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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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Section  -        »LI.    I  D 
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THE    EXPOSITOR'S    BIBLI 


EDITED   BY  THE   REV. 

W.    ROBERTSON    NICOLL,    M.A.,    LL.D. 

Editor  of  "  The  Expositor 


THE     BOOKS     OF     CHRONICLES 

BY 

W,    H.    BENNETT,    M.A. 


NEW   YORK 

A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON 
51     EAST    TENTH    STREET 


1         the'^expositor's   bible. 

!                                Crffivn  8fo,  cloth,  price  $l"SO  each  vol. 

First  Series,  1887-8. 

Colossians. 

1  Samuel. 

By  A.  Maclarkn,  D.D. 

By  Prof.  W.  G.  Blaikie,  D.D. 

St.  Mark. 

2  Samuel. 

By  Very  Rev,  the  Dean  of  Armagh. 

By  the  same  Author. 

Genesis. 

Hebrews, 

By  Prof.  Marcus  Dods,  D.D. 

By  Principal  T.C.  Edwards.D.D. 

Second  Series,  1888-9.                                                   ! 

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By  Prof.  W.  Milligan,  D.D. 

i     The  Pastoral  Epistles. 

1  Corinthians. 

By  Rev.  A.  Plummer,  D.D. 

By  Prof.  Marcus  Dods,  D.D. 

Isaiah  i. — xxxix. 

The  Epistles  of  St.  John. 

By  G.  A.  Smith,  M.A.    Vol.  I. 

By  Rt.  Rev.  W.  Alexander,  D.D. 

Third  Series,  1889-90.                                                   | 

Judges  and  Ruth. 

St.  Matthew. 

By  Rev.  R.  A.  Watson,  D.D. 

By  Rev.  J.  Monro  Gibson,  D.D. 

Jeremiah. 

Exodus. 

By  Rev.  C.  J.  Ball,  M.A. 

By  Very  Rev.  the  Dean  of  Armagh. 

Isaiah  xl. — lxvi. 

St.  Luke. 

By  G.  A.  Smith,  M.A.    Vol.  II. 

By  Rev.  H.  Burton,  M.A. 

Fourth  Series,  1890-1.                                                   | 

Ecclesiastes. 

Leviticus. 

By  Rev.  Samuel  Cox,  D.D. 

By  Rev.  S.  H.  Kellogg,  D.D. 

St.  James  and  St.  Jude, 

The  Gospel  of  St.  John. 

By  Rev.  A.  Plummer,  D.D. 

By  Prof.  M.  Dods,  D.D.    Vol.  I. 

Proverbs. 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

By  Rev.  R.  F.  Horton,  M.A. 

By  Prof.  Stokes,  D.D.    Vol.  I. 

Fifth  Series,  1891-2. 

The  Psalms.                                   Ephesians, 

By  A.  Maclaren,  D.D.     Vol.  I.                By  Prof.  G.  G.  Findlav,  B."A. 

1  and  2  Thessalonians.                The  Gospel  of  St.  John. 

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1   Kings.                                          Joshua, 

By  Ven.  Archdeacon  Farrar.                       By  Prof.  W.  G.  Blaikie,  D.D. 

Philippians.                                    The  Psalms, 

By  Principal  Rainy,  D.D.                          By  A.  Maclaren,  D.D.    Vol.11. 

Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther.            The  Epistles  of  St.  Peter. 

By  Prof.  W.  F.  Adeney,  M.A.                    By  Prof.  Rawson  Lumby,  D.D. 

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By  Ven.  Archdeacon  Fakrar.                      By  James  Denney,  B.D. 

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THE 


BOOKS     OF    CHRONICLES 


W.    H/BENNETT,    M.A. 

PROFESSOR   OF   OLD   TESTAMENT   LANGUAGES   AND    LITERATURE,    HACKNEY 

AND   NEW   COLLEGES  ;   SOMETIME    FELLOW   OF   ST.   JOHN'S 

COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE. 


NEW  YORK 

A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON 
51    EAST    TENTH    STREET 

1894 


PREFACE 

''  I  ^O  expound  Chronicles  in  a  series  which  has  dealt 
with  Samuel,  Kings,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah  is  to 
glean  scattered  ears  from  a  field  already  harvested. 
Sections  common  to  Chronicles  with  the  older  histories 
have  therefore  been  treated  as  briefly  as  is  consistent 
with  preserving  the  continuity  of  the  narrative.  More- 
over, an  exposition  of  Chronicles  does  not  demand 
or  warrant  an  attempt  to  write  the  history  of  Judah. 
To  recombine  with  Chronicles  matter  which  its 
author  deliberately  omitted  would  only  obscure  the 
characteristic  teaching  he  intended  to  convey.  On 
the  one  hand,  his  selection  of  material  has  a  religious 
significance,  which  must  be  ascertained  by  careful 
comparison  with  Samuel  and  Kings ;  on  the  other 
hand,  we  can  only  do  justice  to  the  chronicler  as 
we  ourselves  adopt,  for  the  time  being,  his  own 
attitude  towards  the  history  of  Hebrew  politics, 
literature,  and  religion.    In  the  more  strictly  expository 


vi  PREFACE 

parts  of  this  volume  I  have  sought  to  confine  myself 
to  the  carrying  out  of  these  principles. 

Amongst  other  obligations  to  friends,  I  must 
specially  mention  my  indebtedness  to  the  Rev.  T.  H. 
Darlow,  M.A.,  for  a  careful  reading  of  the  proof-sheets 
and  many  very  valuable  suggestions. 

One  object  I  have  had  in  view  has  been  to  attempt 
to  show  the  fresh  force  and  clearness  with  which 
modern  methods  of  Biblical  study  have  emphasised 
the  spiritual  teaching  of  Chronicles. 


CONTENTS 
BOOK   I 

INTRODUCTION 
CHAPTER   I 

DATE    AND    AUTHORSHIP 

CHAPTER    II 
HISTORICAL   SETTING     .... 

CHAPTER    III       , 
SOURCES    AND    MODE    OF    COMPOSITION  . 

CHAPTER    IV 
THE    IMPORTANCE    OF    CHRONICLES 


13 


NAMES 


HEREDITY 


STATISTICS 


BOOK    II 

GENEALOGIES 

I  Chron.  i.-ix.,  etc. 

CHAPTER    I 

CHAPTER    II 

CHAPTER   III 


29 
46 
64 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   IV 

PAGE 

FAMILY   TRADITIONS       .        ■ 72 

CHAPTER   V 
THE     JEWISH     COMMUNITY      IN      THE      TIME     OF      THE 


CHRONICLER 


92 


CHAPTER   VI 
TEACHING    BY   ANACHRONISM Ill 

BOOK   III 

MESSIANIC  AND   OTHER   TYPES 

I  Chron.  X.— 2  Chron.  ix. ;  xxviii.,  etc. 

CHAPTER    I 
TEACHING    BY    TYPES 1 25 

CHAPTER    II 
DAVID:    HIS   TRIBE   AND   DYNASTY  .  .  .  -133 

CHAPTER    III 
DAVID  :    HIS    PERSONAL    HISTORY 142 

CHAPTER   IV 
DAVID:    HIS    OFFICIAL   DIGNITY l6l 

CHAPTER  V 
SOLOMON 169 

CHAPTER   VI 
SOLOMON  (continued)  .         .         .         .         .         .         .181 

CHAPTER  VII 
THE   WICKED    KINGS       .  .  .  .  .  .  .198 


CONTENTS 


THE   PRIESTS 


THE   PROPHETS      . 


SATAN 


CONCLUSION 


CHAPTER   VIII 


CHAPTER   IX 


CHAPTER   X 


CHAPTER    XI 


PAGE 

.     221 


240 


270 


299 


BOOK    IV 

THE    INTERPRETATION   OF   HISTORY 

2  Chron.  X. — end,  etc. 

CHAPTER    I 
THE    LAST    PRAYER    OF    DAVID  .  .  .  .  -313 

1  Chron.  xxix.   10-19. 

CHAPTER   II 
REHOBOAM   AND   ABIJAH  :    THE    IMPORTANCE   OF    RITUAL    320" 

2  Chron.  x.-xiii. 


CHAPTER   III 
ASA  :    DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  . 
2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi. 


•    338 


CHAPTER   IV 
JEHOSHAPHAT  :    THE   DOCTRINE   OF    NON-RESISTANCE      .    366 
2  Chron.  xvii.-xx. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  V 

PAGE 

JEHORAM,  AHAZIAH,  AND  ATHALIAH  :  THE  CONSEQUENCES 

OF   A    P'OREIGN    MARRIAGE       .....    393 
2  Chron.  xxi.-xxiii. 

CHAPTER  VI 

JOASH    AND    AMAZIAH    .......    403 

2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv. 

CHAPTER   VII 
UZZIAH,    JOTHAM,    AND    AHAZ  .  .  .  .  .    418 

2  Chron.  xxvi.-xxviii. 

CHAPTER   VIII 
HEZEKIAH  :    THE   RELIGIOUS    VALUE   OF    MUSIC        .  -42  7 

2  Chron.  xxix.-xxxii. 

CHAPTER    IX 
MANASSEH  :    REPENTANCE    AND    FORGIVENESS  .  .    444 

2  Chron.  xxxiii. 

CHAPTER   X 

THE    LAST    KINGS    OF   JUDAH 455 

2  Chron.  xxxiv.-xxxvi. 


INDEX 

{TJie  larger  figures  in  black  type  are  the  chief  references) 
I  Chronicles 


CHAP. 

PAGE 

CHAP. 

PAGE 

i.-ix. 

29-121 

xvi.    . 

97,  157 

i. 

48 ,  72 

xvii.    . 

.    154,  loi,  157 

ii. 

50,  74,  106 

xviii.    . 

.  154 

iii. 

.     51,  106 

xix.    . 

•  154 

iv. 

57,  75,  78,  79,  106 

XX.     . 

.    154 

,  148,  159 

V. 

.       84,  86 

xxi.-xxix. 

.  155 

vi. 

.       62,  96 

xxi.    . 

270,  154 

vii. 

.     87 

xxii.    . 

•  175 

viii. 

•      53,  17s 

xxiii.    . 

99,  100 

ix. 

53,  96,  98,  102,  105 

xxiv.    . 

icx),  103 

X. 

.  151 

xxv.    . 

.   103 

xi. 

.   151,  158 

xxvi.    . 

loi,  104 

xii. 

.   152,  250 

xxvii.    . 

■  155 

xiii. 

.    153,  164 

xxviii.    . 

•  -^is 

xiv. 

•   147 

xxix.    . 

.    SIC 

,  156,  175 

XV. 

.        .         .     96 
2  Chr 

ONICLES 

CHAP. 

PAGE 

CHAP. 

PAGE 

i. 

•      175,    176 

vii. 

.     177 

ii. 

.     174 

viii. 

•     173,  17^ 

\,    178,    179 

iii.-v.     . 

.     176 

ix. 

172,    179 

vi. 

.              .             .     176 

x. 

.  320 

CHAP. 

xi. 
xii. 
xiii. 
xiv. 

XV. 

xvi. 

xvii. 

xviii. 

xix. 

XX. 

xxi. 
xxii. 
xxiii. 


INDEX 

PARE 

CHAP. 

.  322 

xxiv 

824,  243 

XXV. 

.  326 

xxvi. 

338,  182 

xxvii. 

348, 

182,  243 

xxviii. 

353,  243 

xxix. 

366,  182 

XXX. 

.  368 

xxxi. 

369, 

102,  244 

xxxii 

372,  244 

xxxiii. 

393, 

182,  244 

xxxiv. 

.  399 

XXXV. 

.  400 

xxx\'i. 

PAGE 

403,  182,  244 
413,  183,  245 
.  418 
.  424 
198,  183,  426 
427,  98,  243 
.  432 
.  438,  103 
.  438,  246 
444,  183,  247 
455,  ICO,  183 
458,  100,  183,  247 
.  460 


BOOK  I 
INTRO  D  UCTTON 


CHAPTER  I 
DATE   AND    AUTHORSHIP 

CHRONICLES  is  a  curious  literary  torso.  A  com- 
parison with  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  shows  that  the 
three  originally  formed  a  single  whole.  They  are 
written  in  the  same  peculiar  late  Hebrew  style;  the} 
use  their  sources  in  the  same  mechanical  way ;  they  are 
all  saturated  with  the  ecclesiastical  spirit ;  and  their 
Church  order  and  doctrine  rest  upon  the  complete  Pen- 
tateuch, and  especially  upon  the  Priestly  Code.  They 
take  the  same  keen  interest  in  genealogies,  statis- 
tics, building  operations.  Temple  ritual,  priests  and 
Levites,  and  most  of  all  in  the  Levitical  doorkeepers 
and  singers.  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  form  an  obvious 
continuation  of  Chronicles ;  the  latter  work  breaks  off 
in  the  middle  of  a  paragraph  intended  to  introduce  the 
account  of  the  return  from  the  Captivity  ;  Ezra  repeats 
the  beginning  of  the  paragraph  and  gives  its  conclusion. 
Similarly  the  register  of  the  high-priests  is  begun  in 
I  Chron.  vi.  4-15  and  completed  in  Neh.  xii.  10,  11. 

We  may  compare  the  whole  work  to  the  image  in 
Daniel's  vision  whose  head  was  of  fine  gold,  his  breast 
and  arms  of  silver,  his  belly  and  his  thighs  of  brass, 
his  legs  of  iron,  his  feet  part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay. 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  preserve  some  of  the  finest  his- 
torical material  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  are  our  only 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


authority  for  a  most  important  crisis  in  the  rehgion  of 
Israel.  The  torso  that  remains  when  these  two  books 
are  removed  is  of  very  mixed  character,  partly  borrowed 
from  the  older  historical  books,  partly  taken  down  from 
late  tradition,  and  partly  constructed  according  to  the 
current  philosophy  of  history. 

The  date  ^  of  this  work  lies  somewhere  between  the 
conquest  of  the  Persian  empire  by  Alexander  and  the 
revolt  of  the  Maccabees,  i.e.,  between  b.c.  332  and  b.c. 
166.  The  register  in  Neh.  xii.  10,  ii,  closes  with 
Jaddua,  the  well-known  high-priest  of  Alexander's 
time ;  the  genealogy  of  the  house  of  David  in  i  Chron. 
iii.  extends  to  about  the  same  date,  or,  according  to 
the  ancient  versions,  even  down  to  about  b.c.  200. 
The  ecclesiastical  system  of  the  priestly  code,  estab- 
lished by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  b.c.  444,  was  of  such 
old  standing  to  the  author  of  Chronicles  that  he  in- 
troduces it  as  a  matter  of  course  into  his  descriptions 
of  the  worship  of  the  monarchy.  Another  feature 
which  even  more  clearly  indicates  a  late  date  is  the 
use  of  the  term  "  king  of  Persia  "  instead  of  simply 
"  the  King  "  or  "  the  Great  King."  The  latter  were 
the  customary  designations  of  the  Persian  kings  while 
the  empire  lasted ;  after  its  fall,  the  title  needed  to  be 
qualified  by  the  name  **  Persia,"  These  facts,  together 
with  the  style  and  language,  would  be  best  accounted 
for  by  a  date  somewhere  between  b.c.  300  and  b.c  250. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Maccabaean  struggle  revolu- 
tionised the  national  and  ecclesiastical  system  which 
Chronicles  everywhere  takes  for  granted,  and  the  silence 
of  the  author  as  to  this  revolution  is  conclusive  proof 
that  he  wrote  before  it  began. 

'  Cf.  Ezra;  Nehemiah  ;  Esther,  by  Professor  Adeney,  in  "Expositor's 
Bible."' 


DATE  AND  AUTHORSHIP  \^ 

There  is  no  evidence  whatever  as  to  the  name  of 
the  author  ;  but  his  intense  interest  in  the  Levites  and 
in  the  musical  service  of  the  Temple,  with  its  orchestra 
and  choir,  renders  it  extremely  probable  that  he  was  a 
Levite  and  a  Temple-singer  or  musician.  We  might 
compare  the  Temple,  with  its  extensive  buildings  and 
numerous  priesthood,  to  an  English  cathedral  establish- 
ment, and  the  author  of  Chronicles  to  some  vicar-choral, 
or,  perhaps  better,  to  the  more  dignified  precentor.  He 
would  be  enthusiastic  over  his  music,  a  cleric  of  studious 
habits  and  scholarly  tastes,  not  a  man  of  the  world,  but 
absorbed  in  the  affairs  of  the  Temple,  as  a  monk  in  the 
life  of  his  convent  or  a  minor  canon  in  the  politics  and 
society  of  the  minster  close.  The  times  were  un- 
critical, and  so  our  author  was  occasionally  somewhat 
easy  of  belief  as  to  the  enormous  magnitude  of  ancient 
Hebrew  armies  and  the  splendour  and  wealth  of  ancient 
Hebrew  kings ;  the  narrow  range  of  his  interests  and 
experience  gave  him  an  appetite  for  innocent  gossip, 
professional  or  otherwise.  But  his  sterling  religious 
character  is  shown  by  the  earnest  piety  and  serene 
faith  which  pervade  his  work.  If  we  venture  to  turn 
to  English  fiction  for  a  rough  illustration  of  the  position 
and  history  of  our  chronicler,  the  name  that  at  once 
suggests  itself  is  that  of  Mr.  Harding,  the  precentor 
in  Barchester  Towers.  We  must  however  remember 
that  there  is  very  little  to  distinguish  the  chronicler  from 
his  later  authorities ;  and  the  term  "  chronicler  "  is  often 
used  for  "  the  chronicler  or  one  of  his  predecessors." 


CHAPTER    II 
HISTORICAL  SETTING 

IN  the  previous  chapter  it  has  been  necessary  to  deal 
with  the  chronicler  as  the  author  of  the  whole 
work  of  which  Chronicles  is  only  a  part,  and  to  go 
over  again  ground  already  covered  in  the  volume 
on  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  ;  but  from  this  point  we  can 
confine  our  attention  to  Chronicles  and  treat  it  as  a 
separate  book.  Such  a  course  is  not  merely  justified, 
it  is  necessitated,  by  the  different  relations  of  the 
chronicler  to  his  subject  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  on  the 
one  hand  and  in  Chronicles  on  the  other.  In  the 
former  case  he  is  writing  the  history  of  the  social  and 
ecclesiastical  order  to  which  he  himself  belonged,  but 
he  is  separated  by  a  deep  and  wide  gulf  from  the 
period  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  About  three  hundred 
years  intervened  between  the  chronicler  and  the 
death  of  the  last  king  of  Judah.  A  similar  interval 
separates  us  from  Queen  Elizabeth  ;  but  the  course  of 
these  three  centuries  of  English  life  has  been  an  almost 
unbroken  continuity  compared  with  the  changing 
fortunes  of  the  Jewish  people  from  the  fall  of  the 
monarchy  to  the  early  years  of  the  Greek  empire. 
This  interval  included  the  Babylonian  captivity  and 
the  return,  the  establishment  of  the  Law,  the  rise  of 
the  Persian  empire,  and   the  conquests   of  Alexander. 


HISTORICAL  SETTING 


The  first  three  of  these  events  were  revolutions  of 
supreme  importance  to  the  internal  development  of 
Judaism  ;  the  last  two  rank  in  the  history  of  the  world 
with  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  and  the  French 
Revolution.  Let  us  consider  them  briefly  in  detail. 
The  Captivity,  the  rise  of  the  Persian  empire,  and  the 
Return  are  closely  connected,  and  can  only  be  treated 
as  features  of  one  great  social,  political,  and  religious 
convulsion,  an  upheaval  which  broke  the  continuity  of 
all  the  strata  of  Eastern  life  and  opened  an  impassable 
gulf  between  the  old  order  and  the  new.  For  a  time, 
men  who  had  lived  through  these  revolutions  were  still 
able  to  carry  across  this  gulf  the  loosely  twisted  strands 
of  memory,  but  when  they  died  the  threads  snapped  ; 
only  here  and  there  a  lingering  tradition  supplemented 
the  written  records.  Hebrew  slowly  ceased  to  be 
the  vernacular  language,  and  was  supplanted  by 
Aramaic  ;  the  ancient  history  only  reached  the  people 
by  means  of  an  oral  translation.  Under  this  new 
dispensation  the  ideas  of  ancient  Israel  were  no  longer 
intelligible  ;  its  circumstances  could  not  be  realised  by 
those  who  lived  under  entirely  different  conditions. 
Various  causes  contributed  to  bring  about  this  change. 
First,  there  was  an  interval  of  fifty  years,  during  which 
Jerusalem  lay  a  heap  of  ruins.  After  the  recapture  of 
Rome  by  Totila  the  Visigoth  in  a.d.  546  the  city  was 
abandoned  during  forty  days  to  desolate  and  dreary 
solitude.  Even  this  temporary  depopulation  of  the 
Eternal  City  is  emphasised  by  historians  as  full  of 
dramatic  interest,  but  the  fifty  years'  desolation  of 
Jerusalem  involved  important  practical  results.  Most 
of  the  returning  exiles  must  have  either  been  born  in 
Babylon  or  else  have  spent  all  their  earliest  years  in 
exile.     Very  few  can   have  been  old  enough   to   have 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


grasped  the  meaning  or  drunk  in  the  spirit  of  the  older 
national  life.  When  the  restored  community  set  to 
work  to  rebuild  their  city  and  their  temple,  few  of  them 
had  any  adequate  knowledge  of  the  old  Jerusalem,  with 
its  manners,  customs,  and  traditions.  "The  ancient 
men,  that  had  seen  the  first  house,  wept  with  a  loud 
voice  "  ^  when  the  foundation  of  the  second  Temple 
was  laid  before  their  eyes.  In  their  critical  and  dis- 
paraging attitude  towards  the  new  building,  we  may 
see  an  early  trace  of  the  tendency  to  glorify  and  idealise 
the  monarchical  period,  which  culminated  in  Chronicles. 
The  breach  with  the  past  was  widened  by  the  novel 
and  striking  surroundings  of  the  exiles  in  Babylon. 
For  the  first  time  since  the  Exodus,  the  Jews  as  a 
nation  found  themselves  in  close  contact  and  intimate 
relations  with  the  culture  of  an  ancient  civilisation  and 
the  life  of  a  great  city. 

Nearly  a  century  and  a  half  elapsed  between  the 
first  captivity  under  Jehoiachin  (b.c.  598)  and  the 
mission  of  Ezra  (b.c.  458) ;  no  doubt  in  the  succeeding 
period  Jews  still  continued  to  return  from  Babylon  to 
Judaea,  and  thus  the  new  community  at  Jerusalem, 
amongst  whom  the  chronicler  grew  up,  counted 
Babylonian  Jews  amongst  their  ancestors  for  two  or 
even  for  many  generations.  A  Zulu  tribe  exhibited 
for  a  year  in  London  could  not  return  and  build  their 
kraal  afresh  and  take  up  the  old  African  life  at  the 
point  where  they  had  left  it.  If  a  community  of 
Russian  Jews  went  to  their  old  home  after  a  few  years' 
sojourn  in  Whitechapel,  the  old  life  resumed  would  be 
very  different  from  what  it  was  before  their  migration. 
Now  the  Babylonian  Jews  were  neither  uncivilised 
African    savages    nor    stupefied    Russian  helots ;    they 

'  Ezra  iii.  12. 


HISTORICAL  SETTING 


were  not  shut  up  in  an  exhibition  or  in  a  ghetto  ;  they 
settled  in  Babylon,  not  for  a  year  or  two,  but  for  half  a 
century  or  even  a  century  ;  and  they  did  not  return  to 
a  population  of  their  own  race,  living  the  old  life,  but 
to  empty  homes  and  a  ruined  city.  They  had  tasted 
the  tree  of  new  knowledge,  and  they  could  no  more  live 
and  think  as  their  fathers  had  done  than  Adam  and 
Eve  could  find  their  way  back  into  paradise.  A  large 
and  prosperous  colony  of  Jews  still  remained  at 
Babylon,  and  maintained  close  and  constant  relations 
with  the  settlement  in  Judaea.  The  influence  of 
Babylon,  begun  during  the  Exile,  continued  perma- 
nently in  this  indirect  form.  Later  still  the  Jews  felt 
the  influence  of  a  great  Greek  city,  through  their 
colony  at  Alexandria. 

Besides  these  external  changes,  the  Captivity  was  a 
period  of  important  and  many-sided  development  of 
Jewish  literature  and  religion.  Men  had  leisure  to 
study  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  and  the  legislation  of 
Deuteronomy ;  their  attention  was  claimed  for  Ezekiel's 
suggestions  as  to  ritual,  and  for  the  new  theolog}^, 
variously  expounded  by  Ezekiel,  the  later  Isaiah,  the 
book  of  Job,  and  the  psalmists.  The  Deuteronomic 
school  systematised  and  interpreted  the  records  of  the 
national  history.  In  its  wealth  of  Divine  revelation 
the  period  from  Josiah  to  Ezra  is  only  second  to  the 
apostolic  age. 

Thus  the  restored  Jewish  community  was  a  new 
creation,  baptised  into  a  new  spirit  ;  the  restored  city 
was  as  much  a  new  Jerusalem  as  that  which  St.  John 
beheld  descending  out  of  heaven  ;  and,  in  the  words  of 
the  prophet  of  the  Restoration,  the  Jews  returned  to  a 
"new  heaven  and   a  new   earth." ^     The   rise   of  the 

'  Isa.  Ixvi.  22. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Persian  empire  changed  the  whole  international  system 
of  Western  Asia  and  Egypt.  The  robber  monarchies 
of  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  whose  energies  had  been 
chiefly  devoted  to  the  systematic  plunder  of  their 
neighbours,  were  replaced  by  a  great  empire,  that 
stretched  out  one  hand  to  Greece  and  the  other  to 
India.  The  organisation  of  this  great  empire  was  the 
most  successful  attempt  at  government  on  a  large  scale 
that  the  world  had  yet  seen.  Both  through  the  Persians 
themselves  and  through  their  dealings  with  the  Greeks, 
Aryan  philosophy  and  religion  began  to  leaven  Asiatic 
thought ;  old  things  were  passing  away  :  all  things  were 
becoming  new. 

The  establishment  of  the  Law  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
was  the  triumph  of  a  school  whose  most  important  and 
effective  work  had  been  done  at  Babylon,  though  not 
necessarily  within  the  half-century  specially  called  the 
Captivity.  Their  triumph  was  retrospective  :  it  not  only 
established  a  rigid  and  elaborate  system  unknown  to 
the  monarchy,  but,  by  identifying  this  system  with  the 
law  traditionally  ascribed  to  Moses,  it  led  men  very 
widely  astray  as  to  the  ancient  history  of  Israel.  A 
later  generation  naturally  assumed  that  the  good  kings 
must  have  kept  this  law,  and  that  the  sin  of  the  bad 
kings  was  their  failure  to  observe  its  ordinances. 

The  events  of  the  century  and  a  half  or  thereabouts 
between  Ezra  and  the  chronicler  have  only  a  minor 
importance  for  us.  The  change  of  language  from 
Hebrew  to  Aramaic,  the  Samaritan  schism,  the  few 
political  incidents  of  which  any  account  has  survived, 
are  all  trivial  compared  to  the  literature  and  hist^y 
crowded  into  the  century  after  the  fall  of  the  monarchy. 
Even  the  far-reaching  results  of  the  conquests  of 
Alexander  do  not  materially  concern  us  here.    Josephus 


HISTORICAL  SETTING 


indeed  tells  us  that  the  Jews  served  in  large  numbers 
in  the  Macedonian  army,  and  gives  a  very  dramatic 
account  of  Alexander's  visit  to  Jerusalem  ;  but  the 
historical  value  of  these  stories  is  very  doubtful,  and  in 
any  case  it  is  clear  that  between  b.c.  333  and  b.c.  250 
Jerusalem  was  very  little  affected  by  Greek  influences, 
and  that,  especially  for  the  Temple  community  to  which 
the  chronicler  belonged,  the  change  from  Darius  to 
the  Ptolemies  was  merely  a  change  from  one  foreign 
dominion  to  another. 

Nor  need  much  be  said  of  the  relation  of  the  chroni- 
cler to  the  later  Jewish  literature  of  the  Apocalypses 
and  Wisdom,  If  the  spirit  of  this  literature  were 
already  stirring  in  some  Jewish  circles,  the  chronicler 
himself  was  not  moved  by  it.  Ecclesiastes,  as  far  as 
he  could  have  understood  it,  would  have  pained  and 
shocked  him.  But  his  work  lay  in  that  direct  line  of 
subtle  rabbinic  teaching  which,  beginning  with  Ezra, 
reached  its  climax  in  the  Talmud.  Chronicles  is  really 
an  anthology  gleaned  from  ancient  historic  sources  and 
supplemented  by  early  specimens  of  Midrash  and 
Hagada. 

In  order  to  understand  the  book  of  Chronicles,  we 
have  to  keep  two  or  three  simple  facts  constantly  and 
clearly  in  mind.  In  the  first  place,  the  chronicler  was 
separated  from  the  monarchy  by  an  aggregate  of 
changes  which  involved  a  complete  breach  of  continuity 
between  the  old  and  the  new  order  :  instead  of  a  nation 
there  was  a  Church ;  instead  of  a  king  there  were  a  high- 
priest  and  a  foreign  governor.  Secondly,  the  effects  of 
these  changes  had  been  at  work  for  two  or  three 
hundred  years,  effacing  all  trustworthy  recollection 
of  the  ancient  order  and  schooling  men  to  regard  the 
Levitical  dispensation  as  their  one  original  and  antio' 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


ecclesiastical  system.  Lastly,  the  chronicler  himself 
belonged  to  the  Temple  community,  v/hich  was  the 
very  incarnation  of  the  spirit  of  the  new  order.  With 
such  antecedents  and  surroundings,  he  set  to  work  to 
revise  the  national  history  recorded  in  Samuel  and 
Kings.  A  monk  in  a  Norman  monastery  would  have 
worked  under  similar  but  less  serious  disadvantages  if 
he  had  undertaken  to  rewrite  the  Ecclesiastical  History 
of  the  Venerable  Bede. 


Ai. 


CHAPTER   III 

SOURCES  AND  MODE  OF  COMPOSITION 

OUR  impressions  as  to  the  sources  of  Chronicles 
are  derived  from  the  general  character  of  its 
contents,  from  a  comparison  with  other  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  from  the  actual  statements  of 
Chronicles  itself.  To  take  the  last  first :  there  are 
numerous  references  to  authorities  in  Chronicles  which 
at  first  sight  seem  to  indicate  a  dependence  on  rich  and 
varied  sources.  To  begin  with,  there  are  **  The  Book 
of  the  Kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,"  ^  "  The  Book  of  the 
Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,"  ^  and  "  The  Acts  of  the 
Kings  of  Israel."^  These,  however,  are  obviously 
different  forms  of  the  title  of  the  same  work. 

Other  titles  furnish  us  with  an  imposing  array  of 
prophetic  authorities.  There  are  "  The  Words "  of 
Samuel  the  Seer,*  of  Nathan  the  Prophet,^  of  Gad  the 
Seer,*  of  Shemaiah  the  Prophet  and  of  Iddo  the  Seer,^ 

'  Quoted  for  Asa  (2  Chron.  xvi.  Il);  Amasiah  (2  Chron.  xxv.  26); 
Alias  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  26). 

^  Quoted  for  Jotham  (2  Chron.  xxvii.  7)  ;  Josiah  (2  Chron.  xxxv. 
26,  27). 

*  Quoted  for  Manasseh  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  18). 

*  Quoted  for  David  (i  Chron.  xxix.  29). 

*  Quoted  for  David  (i  Chron.  xxix.  29)  and  Solomon  (2  Chron. 
ix.  29). 

^  Quoted  for  Rehoboam  (2  Chron.  xii.  15). 

»3 


14  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

of  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani/  and  of  the  Seers  ^ ; 
"  The  Vision "  of  Iddo  the  Seer  ^  and  of  Isaiah  the 
Prophet* ;  "  The  Midrash  "  of  the  Book  of  Kings ^  and 
of  the  Prophet  Iddo";  "The  Acts  of  Uzziah,"  written 
by  Isaiah  the  Prophet  "^ ;  and  "  The  Prophecy "  of 
Ahijah  the  Shilonite.*  There  are  also  less  formal 
allusions  to  other  works. 

Further  examination,  however,  soon  discloses  the 
fact  that  these  prophetic  titles  merely  indicate  different 
sections  of  "The  Book  of  the  Kings  of  Israel  and 
Judah."  On  turning  to  our  book  of  Kings,  we  find 
that  from  Rehoboam  onwards  each  of  the  references 
in  Chronicles  corresponds  to  a  reference  by  the  book 
of  Kings  to  the  "Chronicles'*  of  the  Kings  of  Judah." 
In  the  case  of  Ahaziah,  Athaliah,  and  Amon,  the  refer- 
ence to  an  authority  is  omitted  both  in  the  books  of 
Kings  and  Chronicles.  This  close  correspondence 
suggests  that  both  our  canonical  books  are  referring 
to  the  same  authority  or  authorities.  Kings  refers  to 
the  "Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Judah"  for  Judah,  and 
to  the  "  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Israel "  for  the 
northern  kingdom ;  Chronicles,  though  only  dealing 
with  Judah,  combines  these  two  titles  in  one  :  "  The 
Book  of  the  Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah." 


'  Quoted  ioT  Jchoshaphat  (2  Chron.  xx.  34). 

'^  Quoted  for  Manasseh  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  19).  "Seers,"  A.V.,  R.V. 
Marg.,  with  LXX. ;  R.V.,  with  Hebrew  text,  "Hozai."  The  passage 
is  probably  corrupt. 

^  Quoted  for  Solomon  (2  Chron.  ix.  29). 

*  Quoted  for  Hezekiah  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  32). 

^  Quoted  iov  Joash  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  27). 

^  Quoted  for  Abijah  (2  Chron.  xiii.  22). 

'  Quoted  for  Uzziah  (2  Chron.  xxvi.  22). 

*•  Quoted  for  Solomon  (2  Chron.  ix.  29). 

»  Cf.  pp.  17,    18. 


SOURCES  AND  MODE  OF  COMPOSITION  15 

In  two  instances  Chronicles  clearly  states  that  its 
prophetic  authorities  were  found  as  sections  of  the 
larger  work.  "The  Words  of  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani" 
were  "  inserted  in  the  Book  of  the  Kings  of  Israel,"  ^ 
and  "The  Vision  of  Isaiah  the  Prophet,  the  son  of 
Amoz,"  is  in  the  Book  of  the  Kings  of  Judah  and  Israel.^ 
It  is  a  natural  inference  that  the  other  "  Words  "  and 
"  Visions "  were  also  found  as  sections  of  this  same 
"  Book  of  Kings." 

These  conclusions  may  be  illustrated  and  supported 
by  what  we  know  of  the  arrangement  of  the  contents 
of  ancient  books.  Our  convenient  modern  subdivisions 
of  chapter  and  verse  did  not  exist,  but  the  Jews  were 
not  without  some  means  of  indicating  the  particular 
section  of  a  book  to  which  they  wished  to  refer.  In- 
stead of  numbers  they  used  names,  derived  from  the 
subject  of  a  section  or  from  the  most  important  person 
mentioned  in  it.  For  the  history  of  the  monarchy  the 
prophets  were  the  most  important  personages,  and  each 
section  of  the  history  is  named  after  its  leading  prophet 
or  prophets.  This  nomenclature  naturally  encouraged 
the  belief  that  the  history  had  been  originally  written 
by  these  prophets.  Instances  of  the  use  of  such  nomen- 
clature are  found  in  the  New  Testament,  e.g.,  Rom. 
xi.  2  :  "  Wot  ye  not  what  the  Scripture  saith  in  Elijah  "  ^ 
— t'.e.,  in  the  section  about  Elijah — and  Mark  xii.  26  : 
"  Have  ye  not  read  in  the  book  of  Moses  in  the  place 
concerning  the  bush  ?  "  * 

While,  however,  most  of  the  references  to  "Words," 
"Visions,"  etc.,  are  to  sections  of  the  larger  work, 
we  need  not  at  once  conclude  that  all  references  to 
authorities  in  Chronicles  are  to  this  same  book.     The 


'  2  Chron.  xx.  34.  *  R.V.  mar^ 

^  2  Chron.  xxxii.  32.  ■*  R  V. 


i6  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

genealogical  register  in  i  Chron.  v.  17  and  the  "lamen- 
tations "  of  2  Chron,  xxxv.  25  may  very  well  be  inde- 
pendent works.  Having  recognised  the  fact  that  the 
numerous  authorities  referred  to  by  Chronicles  were  for 
the  most  part  contained  in  one  comprehensive  "  Book 
of  Kings,"  a  new  problem  presents  itself:  What  are  the 
respective  relations  of  our  Kings  and  Chronicles  to  the 
"  Chronicles  "  and  "  Kings  "  cited  by  them  ?  What  are 
the  relations  of  these  original  authorities  to  each  other  ? 
What  are  the  relations  of  our  Kings  to  our  Chronicles  ? 
Our  present  nomenclature  is  about  as  confusing  as  it 
well  could  be ;  and  we  are  obliged  to  keep  clearly  in 
mind,  first,  that  the  "  Chronicles  "  mentioned  in  Kings 
is  not  our  Chronicles,  and  then  that  the  "  Kings " 
referred  to  by  Chronicles  is  not  our  Kings.  The  first 
fact  is  obvious ;  the  second  is  shown  by  the  terms  of 
the  references,  which  state  that  information  not  fur- 
nished in  Chronicles  may  be  found  in  the  "  Book  of 
Kings,"  but  the  information  in  question  is  often  not 
given  in  the  canonical  Kings.^  And  yet  the  connection 
between  Kings  and  Chronicles  is  very  close  and  exten- 
sive. A  large  amount  of  material  occurs  either  identi- 
cally or  with  very  slight  variations  in  both  books.  It  is 
clear  that  either  Chronicles  uses  Kings,  or  Chronicles 
uses  a  work  which  used  Kings,  or  both  Chronicles  and 
Kings  use  the  same  source  or  sources.  Each  of  these 
three  views  has  been  held  by  important  authorities, 
and  they  are  also  capable  of  various  combinations  and 
modifications. 

Reserving  for  a  moment  the  view  which  specially 
commends  itself  to  us,  we  may  note  two  main  tendencies 
of  opinion.      First,    it    is    maintained    that  Chronicles 

>  E.g.,  the  wars  of  Jotham  (2  Chron.  xxvii.  7). 


Sources  and  mode  of  composition        17 

either  goes  back  directly  to  the  actual  sources  of  Kings, 
citing  them,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  under  a  combined 
title,  or  is  based  upon  a  combination  of  the  main 
sources  of  Kings  made  at  a  very  early  date.  In  either 
case  Chronicles  as  compared  with  Kings  would  be 
an  independent  and  parallel  authority  on  the  contents 
of  these  early  sources,  and  to  that  extent  would  rank 
with  Kings  as  first-class  history.  This  view,  however, 
is  shown  to  be  untenable  by  the  numerous  traces 
of  a  later  age  which  are  almost  invariably  present 
wherever  Chronicles  supplements  or  modifies  Kings. 

The  second  view  is  that  either  Chronicles  used  Kings, 
or  that  the  *'  Book  of  the  Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  " 
used  by  Chronicles  was  a  post-Exilic  work,  incorporating 
statistical  matter  and  dealing  with  the  history  of  the 
two  kingdoms  in  a  spirit  congenial  to  the  temper  and 
interests  of  the  restored  community.  This  "post-Exilic  " 
predecessor  of  Chronicles  is  supposed  to  have  been 
based  upon  Kings  itself,  or  upon  the  sources  of  Kings, 
or  upon  both  ;  but  in  any  case  it  v/as  not  much  earlier 
than  Chronicles  and  was  written  under  the  same  influ- 
ences and  in  a  similar  spirit.  Being  virtually  an  earlier 
edition  of  Chronicles,  it  could  claim  no  higher  authority, 
and  would  scarcely  deserve  either  recognition  or  treat- 
ment as  a  separate  work.  -Chronicles  would  still  rest 
substantially  on  the  authority  of  Kings. 

It  is  possible  to  accept  a  somewhat  simpler  view, 
and  to  dispense  with  this  shadowy  and  ineffectual  first 
edition  of  Chronicles.  In  the  first  place,  the  chronicle)- 
does  not  appeal  to  the  "  Words  "  and  "  Visions  "  and 
the  rest  of  his  "  Book  of  Kings  "  as  authorities  for  his 
own  statements ;  he  merely  refers  his  reader  to  them 
for  further  information  which  he  himself  does  not 
furnish.     This   "  Book  of  Kings  "  so  often  mentioned 


1 8  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


is  therefore  neither  a  source  nor  an  authority  of 
Chronicles.  There  is  nothing  to  prove  that  the 
chronicler  himself  was  actually  acquainted  with  the 
book.  Again,  the  close  correspondence  already  noted 
between  these  references  in  Chronicles  and  the  parallel 
notes  in  Kings  suggests  that  the  former  are  simply 
expanded  and  modified  from  the  latter,  and  the 
chronicler  had  never  seen  the  book  he  referred  to. 
The  Books  of  Kings  had  stated  where  additional  informa- 
tion could  be  found,  and  Chronicles  simply  repeated 
the  reference  without  verifying  it.  As  some  sections 
of  Kings  had  come  to  be  known  by  the  names  of  certain 
prophets,  the  chronicler  transferred  these  names  back 
to  the  corresponding  sections  of  the  sources  used  by 
Kings.  In  these  cases  he  felt  he  could  give  his  readers 
not  merely  the  somewhat  vague  reference  to  the  original 
work  as  a  whole,  but  the  more  definite  and  convenient 
citation  of  a  particular  paragraph.  His  descriptions 
of  the  additional  subjects  dealt  with  in  the  original 
authority  may  possibly,  like  other  of  his  statements, 
have  been  constructed  in  accordance  with  his  ideas 
of  what  that  authority  should  contain  ;  or  more  probably 
they  refer  to  this  authority  the  floating  traditions  of 
later  times  and  writers.  Possibly  these  references  and 
notes  of  Chronicles  are  copied  from  the  glosses  which 
some  scribe  had  written  in  the  margin  of  his  copy 
of  Kings.  If  this  be  so,  we  can  understand  why  we 
find  references  to  the  Midrash  of  Iddo  and  the  Midrash 
of  the  book  of  Kings.'^ 

In  any  case,  whether  directly  or  through  the  medium 
of  a  preliminary  edition,  called  "  The  Book  of  the  Kings 

'  2  Chron.  xiii.  22 ;  xxiv.  27.  The  LXX.,  however,  does  not  read 
"  Midrash  "  in  either  case  ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  glosses  have 
attached  themselves  to  the  text  of  Chronicles. 


SOURCES  AND  MODE   OF  COMPOSITION  19 

of  Israel  and  Judah,"  our  book  of  Kings  was  used 
by  the  chronicler.  The  supposition  that  the  original 
sources  of  Kings  were  used  by  the  chronicler  or  this 
immediate  predecessor  is  fairly  supported  both  by 
evidence  and  authority,  but  on  the  whole  it  seems  an 
unnecessary  complication. 

Thus  we  fail  to  find  in  these  various  references  to 
the  "  Book  of  Kings,"  etc.,  any  clear  indication  of  the 
origin  of  matter  peculiar  to  Chronicles ;  nevertheless 
it  is  not  difficult  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  sources 
from  which  this  material  was  derived.  Doubtless  some 
of  it  was  still  current  in  the  form  of  oral  tradition  when 
the  chronicler  wrote,  and  owed  to  him  its  permanent 
record.  Some  he  borrowed  from  manuscripts,  which 
formed  part  of  the  scanty  and  fragmentai"y  literature 
of  the  later  period  of  the  Restoration.  His  genealogies 
and  statistics  suggest  the  use  of  public  and  ecclesiastical 
archives,  as  well  as  of  family  records,  in  which  ancient 
legend  and  anecdote  lay  embedded  among  lists  of 
forgotten  ancestors.  Apparently  the  chronicler  har- 
vested pretty  freely  from  that  literary  aftermath  that 
sprang  up  when  the  Pentateuch  and  the  earlier  historical 
books  had  taken  final  shape. 

But  it  is  to  these  earlier  books  that  the  chronicler 
owes  most.  His  work  is  very  largely  a  mosaic  of  para- 
graphs and  phrases  taken  from  the  older  books.  His 
chief  sources  are  Samuel  and  Kings  ;  he  also  lays  the 
Pentateuch,  Joshua,  and  Ruth  under  contribution.  Much 
is  taken  over  without  even  verbal  alteration,  and  the 
greater  part  is  unaltered  in  substance  ;  yet,  as  is  the 
custom  in  ancient  literature,  no  acknowledgment  is 
made.  The  literary  conscience  was  not  yet  aware  of 
the  sin  of  plagiarism.  Indeed,  neither  an  author  nor 
his   friends  took   any   pains   to  secure  the    permanent 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


association  of  his  name  with  his  work,  and  no  great 
guilt  can  attach  to  the  plagiarism  of  one  anonymous 
writer  from  another.  This  absence  of  acknowledgment 
where  the  chronicler  is  plainly  borrowing  from  elder 
scribes  is  another  reason  why  his  references  to  the 
"  Book  of  the  Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  "  are  clearly 
not  statements  of  sources  to  which  he  is  indebted,  but 
simply  what  they  profess  to  be :  indications  of  the 
possible  sources  of  further  information. 

Chronicles,  however,  illustrates  ancient  methods  of 
historical  composition,  not  only  by  its  free  appropriation 
of  the  actual  form  and  substance  of  older  works,  but 
also  by  its  curious  blending  of  identical  reproduction 
with  large  additions  of  quite  heterogeneous  matter,  or 
with  a  series  of  minute  but  significant  alterations. 
The  primitive  ideas  and  classical  style  of  paragraphs 
from  Samuel  and  Kings  are  broken  in  upon  by  the 
ritualistic  fervour  and  late  Hebrew  of  the  chronicler's 
additions.  The  vivid  and  picturesque  narrative  of  the 
bringing  of  the  Ark  to  Zion  is  interpolated  with 
uninteresting  statistics  of  the  names,  num.bers,  and 
musical  instruments  of  the  Levites.^  Much  of  the 
chronicler's  account  of  the  revolution  which  overthrew 
Athaliah  and  placed  Joash  on  the  throne  is  taken 
word  for  word  from  the  book  of  Kings ;  but  it  is 
adapted  to  the  Temple  order  of  the  Pentateuch  by 
a  series  of  alterations  which  substitute  Levites  for 
foreign  mercenaries,  and  otherwise  guard  the  sanctity 
of  the  Temple  from  the  intrusion,  not  only  of  foreigners, 
but  even  of  the  common  people.^  A  careful  comparison 
of  Chronicles  with  Samuel  and  Kings  is  a  striking 
object  lesson  in  ancient  historical  composition.      It  is 

'  Cf.  2  Sam.  vi.  12-20  with  i  Chron.  xv.,  xvi. 
^  Cf.  2  Kings  xi,  ;  2  Chron.  xxiii. 


SOURCES  AND  MODE   OF  COMPOSITION 


an  almost  indispensable  introduction  to  the  criticism 
of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  older  historical  books.  The 
"redactor"  of  these  works  becomes  no  mere  shadowy 
and  hypothetical  personage  when  we  have  watched  his 
successor  the  chronicler  piecing  together  things  new 
and  old  and  adapting  ancient  narratives  to  modern 
ideas  by  adding  a  word  in  one  place  and  changing 
a  phrase  in  another. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE  IMPORTANCE   OF  CHRONICLES 

BEFORE  attempting  to  expound  in  detail  the 
religious  significance  of  Chronicles,  we  may  con- 
clude our  introduction  by  a  brief  general  statement  of 
the  leading  features  which  render  the  book  interesting 
and  valuable  to  the  Christian  student. 

The  material  of  Chronicles  ma}'-  be  divided  into 
three  parts  :  the  matter  taken  directly  from  the  older 
historical  books ;  material  derived  from  traditions  and 
writings  of  the  chronicler's  own  age ;  the  various 
additions  and  modifications  which  are  the  chronicler's 
own  work.^  Each  of  these  divisions  has  its  special 
value,  and  important  lessons  may  be  learnt  from  the 
way  in  which  the  author  has  selected  and  combined 
these  materials. 

The  excerpts  from  the  older  histories  are,  of  course, 
by  far  the  best  material  in  the  book  for  the  period  of 
the  monarchy.  If  Samuel  and  Kings  had  perished, 
we  should  have  been  under  great  obligations  to  the 
chronicler  for  preserving  to  us  large  portions  of  their 

*  The  last  two  classes  are  not  easily  distinguished  ;  but  the  addi- 
tions which  introduce  the  Levitical  system  into  earl  er  history  are 
clearly  the  work  of  the  chronicler  or  his  immediate  predecessor, 
if  such  a  predecessor  be  assumed,  or  were  found  in  somewhat  late 
sources.     This  is  also  probably  true  of  other  explanatory  matter. 

22 


THE  IMPORTANCE   OF  CHRONICLES  23 

ancient  records.  As  it  is,  the  chronicler  has  rendered 
invaluable  service  to  the  textual  criticism  of  the  Old 
Testament  by  providing  us  with  an  additional  witness 
to  the  text  of  large  portions  of  Samuel  and  Kings. 
The  very  fact  that  the  character  and  history  of 
Chronicles  are  so  different  from  those  of  the  older 
books  enhances  the  value  of  its  evidence  as  to  their 
text.  The  two  texts,  Samuel  and  Kings  on  the  one 
hand  and  Chronicles  on  the  other,  have  been  modified 
under  different  influences  ;  they  have  not  always  been 
altered  in  the  same  way,  so  that  where  one  has  been 
corrupted  the  other  has  often  preserved  the  correct 
reading.  Probably  because  Chronicles  is  less  interest- 
ing and  picturesque,  its  text  has  been  subject  to  less 
alteration  than  that  of  Samuel  and  Kings.  The  more 
interested  scribes  or  readers  become,  the  more  likely 
they  are  to  make  corrections  and  add  glosses  to  the 
narrative.  We  may  note,  for  example,  that  the  name 
"  Meribbaal  "  given  by  Chronicles  for  one  of  Saul's  sons 
is  more  likely  to  be  correct  than  "  Mephibosheth,"  the 
form  given  by  Samuel.^ 

The  material  derived  from  traditions  and  writings 
of  the  chronicler's  own  age  is  of  uncertain  historical 
value,  and  cannot  be  clearly  discriminated  from  the 
author's  free  composition.  Much  of  it  was  the  natural 
product  of  the  thought  and  feeling  of  the  late  Persian 
and  early  Greek  period,  and  shares  the  importance 
which  attaches  to  the  chronicler's  own  work.  This 
material,  however,  includes  a  certain  amount  of  neutral 
matter :  genealogies,  family  histories  and  anecdotes, 
and  notes  on  ancient  life  and   custom.     We   have  no 

'  Cf.  2  Sam.  iv.  with  I  Chron.  viii.  34,  also  2  Sam.  vii.  7  with 
I  Chron,  xvii.  6,  and  2  Sam.  xvii.  25  with  I  Chron.  ii.  17.  In  both 
these  instances  Chronicles  preserves  the  correct  text. 


24  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

parallel  authorities  to  test  this  material,  we  cannot 
prove  the  antiquity  of  the  sources  from  which  it  is 
derived,  and  yet  it  may  contain  fragments  of  very 
ancient  tradition.  Some  of  the  notes  and  narratives 
have  an  archaic  flavour  which  can  scarcely  be  artificial ; 
their  very  lack  of  importance  is  an  argument  for  their 
authenticity,  and  illustrates  the  strange  tenacity  with 
which  local  and  domestic  tradition  perpetuates  the 
most  insignificant  episodes.^ 

But  naturally  the  most  characteristic,  and  therefore 
the  most  important,  section  of  the  contents  of  Chroni- 
cles is  that  made  up  of  the  additions  and  modifications 
which  are  the  work  of  the  chronicler  or  his  immediate 
predecessors.  It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out  that  these 
do  not  add  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the 
monarchy  ;  their  significance  consists  in  the  light  that 
they  throw  upon  the  period  towards  whose  close  the 
chronicler  lived  :  the  period  between  the  final  establish- 
ment of  Pentateuchal  Judaism  and  the  attempt  of 
Antiochus  Epiphanes  to  stamp  it  out  of  existence ;  the 
period  between  Ezra  and  Judas  Maccabseus.  The 
chronicler  is  no  exceptional  and  epoch-making  writer, 
has  little  personal  importance,  and  is  therefore  all  the 
more  important  as  a  typical  representative  of  the 
current  ideas  of  his  class  and  generation.  He  trans- 
lates the  history  of  the  past  into  the  ideas  and  circum- 
stances of  his  own  age,  and  thus  gives  us  almost  as  much 
information  about  the  civil  and  religious  institutions 
he  lived  under  as  if  he  had  actually  described  them. 
Moreover,  in  stating  its  estimate  of  past  history,  each 
generation  pronounces  unconscious  judgment  upon 
itself.     The  chronicler's  interpretation  and  philosophy 

'  Cf.  Book  II.,  Chap.  IV, 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  CHRONICLES  25 

of  history  mark  the  level  of  his  moral  and  spiritual 
ideas.  He  betrays  these  quite  as  much  by  his  attitude 
towards  earlier  authorities  as  in  the  paragraphs  which 
are  his  own  composition  ;  we  have  seen  how  his  use 
of  materials  illustrates  the  ancient,  and  for  that  matter 
the  modern,  Eastern  methods  of  historical  composition, 
and  we  have  shown  the  immense  importance  of 
Chronicles  to  Old  Testament  criticism.  But  the  way 
in  which  the  chronicler  uses  his  older  sources  also 
indicates  his  relation  towards  the  ancient  morality, 
ritual,  and  theology  of  Israel.  His  methods  of  selection 
are  most  instructive  as  to  the  ideas  and  interests  of 
his  time.  We  see  what  was  thought  worthy  to  be 
included  in  this  final  and  most  modern  edition  of  the 
religious  history  of  Israel,  But  in  truth  the  omissions 
are  among  the  most  significant  features  of  Chronicles ; 
its  silence  is  constantly  more  eloquent  than  its  speech, 
and  we  measure  the  spiritual  progress  of  Judaism  by 
the  paragraphs  of  Kings  which  Chronicles  leaves  out. 
In  subsequent  chapters  we  shall  seek  to  illustrate  the 
various  ways  in  which  Chronicles  illuminates  the  period 
preceding  the  Maccabees.  Any  gleams  of  light  on  the 
Hebrew  monarchy  are  most  welcome,  but  we  cannot 
be  less  grateful  for  information  about  those  obscure 
centuries  which  fostered  the  quiet  growth  of  Israel's 
character  and  faith  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
splendid  heroism  and  religious  devotion  of  the  Macca- 
bsean  struggle. 


BOOK   II 
GENEALOGIES 


CHAPTER   I 

NAMES 
I  Chron.  i.-ix. 

THE  first  nine  chapters  of  Chronicles  form,  with 
a  few  slight  exceptions,  a  continuous  list  of 
names.  It  is  the  largest  extant  collection  of  Hebrew 
names.  Hence  these  chapters  may  be  used  as  a  text 
for  the  exposition  of  any  spiritual  significance  to  be 
derived  from  Hebrew  names  either  individually  or 
collectively.  Old  Testament  genealogies  have  often 
exercised  the  ingenuity  of  the  preacher,  and  the  student 
of  homiletics  will  readily  recollect  the  methods  of 
extracting  a  moral  from  what  at  first  sight  seems  a 
barren  theme.  For  instance,  those  names  of  which 
little  or  nothing  is  recorded  are  held  up  as  awful 
examples  of  wasted  lives.  We  are  asked  to  take 
warning  from  Mahalalel  and  Methuselah,  who  spent 
their  long  centuries  so  ineffectually  that  there  was 
nothing  to  record  except  that  they  begat  sons  and 
daughters  and  died.  Such  teaching  is  not  fairly 
derived  from  its  text.  The  sacred  writers  implied  no 
reflection  upon  the  Patriarchs  of  whom  they  gave  so 
short  and  conventional  an  account.  Least  of  all  could 
such  teaching  be  based  upon  the  lists  in  Chronicles, 
because  the  men  who  are  there  merely  mentioned  by 
name  include  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  and  other  heroes 

29 


30  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

of  sacred  story.  Moreover,  such  teaching  is  unneces- 
sary and  not  altogether  wholesome.  Very  few  men 
who  are  at  all  capable  of  obtaining  a  permanent  place 
in  history  need  to  be  spurred  on  by  sermons;  and  for 
most  people  the  suggestion  that  a  man's  life  is  a 
failure  unless  he  secures  posthumous  fame  is  false 
and  mischievous.  The  Lamb's  book  of  life  is  the 
only  record  of  the  vast  majority  of  honourable  and 
useful  lives ;  and  the  tendency  to  self-advertisement 
is  sufficiently  wide-spread  and  spontaneous  already  :  it 
needs  no  pulpit  stimulus.  We  do  not  think  any  worse 
of  a  man  because  his  tombstone  simply  states  his  name 
and  age,  or  any  better  because  it  catalogues  his  virtues 
and  mentions  that  he  attained  the  dignity  of  alderman 
or  author. 

The  significance  of  these  lists  of  names  is  rather  to 
be  looked  for  in  an  opposite  direction.  It  is  not  that 
a  name  and  one  or  two  commonplace  incidents  mean 
so  little,  but  that  they  suggest  so  much.  A  mere  parish 
register  is  not  in  itself  attractive,  but  if  we  consider 
even  such  a  list,  the  very  names  interest  us  and  kindle 
our  imagination.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  linger  in 
a  country  churchyard,  reading  the  half-effaced  inscrip- 
tions upon  the  headstones,  without  forming  some  dim 
picture  of  the  character  and  history  and  even  the 
outward  semblance  of  the  men  and  women  who  once 
bore  the  names. 

"  For  though  a  name  is  neither 
.  .  .  liand,  nor  foot, 
Nor  arm,  nor  face,  nor  any  other  part 
Belonging  to  a  man," 

yet,  to  use  a  somewhat  technical  phrase,  it  connotes  a 
man.  A  name  implies  the  existence  of  a  distinct 
personality,   with   a  peculiar  and   unique   history,   and 


i.-ix.j  NAMES  31 

yet,  on  the  other  hand,  a  being  with  whom  we  are 
hnked  in  close  sympathy  by  a  thousand  ties  of  common 
human  nature  and  everyday  experience.  In  its  lists 
of  what  are  now  mere  names,  the  Bible  seems  to 
recognise  the  dignity  and  sacredness  of  bare  human 
life. 

But  the  names  in  these  nine  chapters  have  also 
a  collective  significance :  they  stand  for  more  than 
their  individual  owners.  They  are  typical  and  repre- 
sentative, the  names  of  kings,  and  priests,  and  captains  ; 
they  sum  up  the  tribes  of  Israel,  both  as  a  Church  and 
a  nation,  down  all  the  generations  of  its  history.  The 
inclusion  of  these  names  in  the  sacred  record,  as  the 
express  introduction  to  the  annals  of  the  Temple,  and 
the  sacred  city,  and  the  elect  house  of  David,  is  the 
formal  recognition  of  the  sanctity  of  the  nation  and  of 
national  life.  We  are  entirely  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Bible  when  we  see  this  same  sanctity  in  all  organised 
societies :  in  the  parish,  the  municipality,  and  the  state  ; 
when  we  attach  a  Divine  significance  to  registers  of 
electors  and  census  returns,  and  claim  all  such  lists 
as  symbols  of  religious  privilege  and  responsibility.? 

But  names  do  not  merely  suggest  individuals  and 
communities  :  the  meanings  of  the  names  reveal  the 
ideas  of  the  people  who  used  them.  It  has  been  well 
said  that  "  the  names  of  every  nation  are  an  im- 
portant monument  of  national  spirit  and  manners,  and 
thus  the  Hebrew  names  bear  important  testimony  to 
the  peculiar  vocation  of  this  nation.  No  nation  of 
antiquity  has  such  a  proportion  of  names  of  religious 
import."  ^  Amongst  ourselves  indeed  the  religious 
meaning    of  names    has    almost    wholly    faded    away ; 

'  Oehler,  Old  Testament  Theology,  i.  283  (Eng.  trans.). 


32  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

"  Christian  name "  is  a  mere  phrase,  and  children  are 
named  after  relations,  or  according  to  prevailing  fashion, 
or  after  the  characters  of  popular  novels.  But  the 
religious  motive  can  still  be  traced  in  some  modern 
names ;  in  certain  districts  of  Germany  the  name 
**  Ursula"  or  "Apollonia"  is  a  sure  indication  that  a 
girl  is  a  Roman  Catholic  and  has  been  named  after  a 
popular  saint.^  The  Bible  constantly  insists  upon  this 
religious  significance,  which  would  frequently  be  in  the 
mind  of  the  devout  Israelite  in  giving  names  to  his 
children.  The  Old  Testament  contains  more  than  a 
hundred  etymologies  "  of  personal  names,  most  of  which 
attach  a  religious  meaning  to  the  words  explained. 
The  etymologies  of  the  patriarchal  names — ''  Abraham," 
father  of  a  multitude  of  nations ;  "  Isaac,"  laughter ; 
"  Jacob,"  supplanter  ;  "  Israel,"  prince  with  God — are 
specially  familiar.  The  Biblical  interest  in  edifying 
etymologies  was  maintained  and  developed  by  early 
commentators.  Their  philology  was  far  from  accurate, 
and  very  often  they  were  merely  playing  upon  the  forms 
of  words.  But  the  allegori.sing  tendencies  of  Jewish 
and  Christian  expositors  found  special  opportunities  in 
proper  names.  On  the  narrow  foundation  of  an  etymo- 
logy mostly  doubtful  and  often  impossible,  Philo,  and 
Origen,  and  Jerome  loved  to  erect  an  elaborate  structure 
of  theological  or  philosophical  doctrine.  Philo  has  only 
one  quotation  from  our  author :  "  Manasseh  had  sons, 
whom  his  Syrian  concubine  bare  to  him,  Machir ;  and 
Machir  begat  Gilead."^  He  quotes  this  verse  to  show 
that  recollection  is  associated  in  a  subordinate  capacity 

'  Nestle,  Die  Israelitischen  Etgennanten,  p.  27.     The  present  chapter 
is  largely  indebted  to  this  standard  monograph. 
2  Nestle. 
^  I  Chron.  vii.  14. 


i.-ix.]  NAMES  33 

with  memory.  The  connection  is  not  very  clearly  made 
out,  but  rests  in  some  way  on  the  meaning  of  Manasseh, 
the  root  of  which  means  to  forget.  As  forgetfulness 
with  recollection  restores  our  knowledge,  so  Manasseh 
with  his  Syrian  concubine  begets  Machir.  Recollection 
therefore  is  a  concubine,  an  inferior  and  secondary 
quality.^  This  ingenious  trifling  has  a  certain  charm 
in  spite  of  its  extravagance,  but  in  less  dexterous 
hands  the  method  becomes  clumsy  as  well  as  extra- 
vagant. It  has,  however,  the  advantage  of  readily 
adapting  itself  to  all  tastes  and  opinions,  so  that  we 
are  not  surprised  when  an  eighteenth-century  author 
discovers  in  Old  Testament  etymology  a  compendium 
of  Trinitarian  theology.^  Ahiah  ^  is  derived  from  ^ehad, 
one,  and  yah,  Jehovah,  and  is  thus  an  assertion  of  the 
Divine  unity;  Reuel'^  is  resolved  into  a  plural  verb  with 
a  singular  Divine  name  for  its  subject :  this  is  an  indica- 
tion of  trinity  in  unity  ;  Ahilud^  is  derived  from  ^ehad, 
one,  and  galud,  begotten,  and  signifies  that  the  Son  is 
only-begotten. 

Modern  scholarship  is  more  rational  in  its  methods,  but 
attaches  no  less  importance  to  these  ancient  names,  and 
fiends  in  them  weighty  evidence  on  problems  of  criticism 
and  theology ;  and  before  proceeding  to  more  serious 
matters,  we  may  note  a  few  somewhat  exceptional  names. 
As  pointed  in  the  present  Hebrew  text,  Hazarmaveth  "^ 
and  Azmaveth"^  have  a  certain  grim  suggestiveness. 
Hazarmaveth,  court  of  death,  is  given  as  the  name  of 
a  descendant  of  Shem.  It  is,  however,  probably  the 
name  of  a  place  transferred  to  an  eponymous  ancestor, 

'  Philo,  De  Cong.  Queer.  Erud.  Graf.,  8.  *  xviii.  15. 

^  Hiller's  Onomasticcit  ap.,  Nestle  11.  **  i.  20. 

^  vii.  8.  '  viii.  36. 
'  i-  35- 


34  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

and  has  been  identified  with  Hadramawt,  a  district  in 
the   south   of  Arabia.     As,  however,  Hadramawt,  is  a 
fertile  district  of  Arabia  FeHx,  the  name  does  not  seem 
very    appropriate.      On    the    other    hand,    Azmavefh, 
**  strength  of  death,"  would  be  very  suitable  for  some 
strong,    death-dealing    soldier.      Asubah,^    **  forsaken," 
the  name  of  Caleb's  wife,  is   capable  of  a  variety   ol 
romantic   explanations.     Hazelelpom^  is  remarkable  in 
its  mere  form  ;  and  Ewald's  interpretation,  "  Give  shade. 
Thou    who    turnest    to  me    Thy    countenance,"  seems 
rather   a   cumbrous    signification    for   the    name    of  a 
daughter  of  the  house  of  Judah.    Jushab-hescd^  "  Mercy 
will  be  renewed,"  as  the  name  of  a  son  of  Zerubbabel, 
doubtless    expresses    the    gratitude    and    hope    of    the 
Jews   on  their  return  from    Babylon.*    Jashubi-lehem,^ 
however,  is  curious  and  perplexing.     The  name  has  been 
interpreted  *'  giving  bread  "or  "  turning  back  to  Beth- 
lehem," but  the  text  is  certainly  corrupt,  and  the  passage 
is  one  of  many  into  which  either  the  carelessness  of 
scribes  or    the    obscurity    of  the    chronicler's    sources 
has   introduced    hopeless    confusion.       But    the    most 
remarkable  set  of  names  is  found  in   i  Chron.  xxv.  4, 
where  Giddalti  and  Romaniiezer,  Joshbekashah^  Mallothi, 
Hothir,    Mahazioth,    are    simply    a    Hebrew    sentence 
meaning,   "  I  have  magnified  and  exalted  help ;  sitting 
in    distress,^  I    have   spoken "  visions   in    abundance." 
We  may  at  once  set  aside  the  cynical  suggestion  that 
the  author  lacked  names  to  complete  a  genealogy  and, 
to  save  the  trouble  of  inventing  them  separately,  took 
the  first  sentence  that  came  to  hand  and  cut  it  up  into 
suitable  lengths,  nor  is  it   likely  that   a   father  would 

'  ii.   18.  ^  iii.  20.  *  iv.  22. 

^  iv.  3.  *  Bertheau,  i.l. 

"  The  translation  of  these  words  is  not  quite  certain. 


i.-ix.]  NAMES  35 

spread  the  same  process  over  several  years  and  adopt 
it  for  his  family.  This  remarkable  combination  of 
names  is  probably  clue  to  some  misunderstanding  of 
his  sources  on  the  part  of  the  chronicler.  His  parch- 
ment rolls  must  often  have  been  torn  and  fragmentary, 
the  writing  blurred  and  half  illegible ;  and  his  attempts 
to  piece  together  obscure  and  ragged  manuscripts 
naturally  resulted  'at  times  in  mistakes  and  confusion. 

These  examples  of  interesting  etymologies  might 
easily  be  multiplied ;  they  serve,  at  any  rate,  to  indi- 
cate a  rich  mine  of  suggestive  teaching.  It  must, 
however,  be  remembered  that  a  name  is  not  necessarily 
a  personal  name  because  it  occurs  in  a  genealogy ; 
cities,  districts,  and  tribes  mingle  freely  with  persons 
in  these  lists.  In  the  same  connection  we  note  that 
the  female  names  are  few  and  far  between,  and  that 
of  those  which  do  occur  the  "  sisters  "  probably  stand 
for  allied  and  related  families,  and  not  for  individuals. 

As  regards  Old  Testament  theology,  we  may  first 
notice  the  light  thrown  by  personal  names  on  the  re- 
lation of  the  religion  of  Israel  to  that  of  other  Semitic 
peoples.  Of  the  names  in  these  chapters  and  elsewhere, 
a  large  proportion  are  compounded  of  one  or  other  of 
the  Divine  names.  El  is  the  first  element  in  Elishama, 
Eliphelct,  Eliada,  etc.  ;  it  is  the  second  in  Othniel, 
Jehaleleel,  Asareel,  etc.  Similarly  Jehovah  is  repre- 
sented by  the  initial  Jeho-  in  JeJioshaphat,  Jchoiakim, 
Jehoram,  etc.,  by  the  final  -iah  in  Amaziah,  Azan'ah, 
Hezekiahy  etc.  It  has  been  calculated  that  there  are 
a  hundred  and  ninety  names  ^  beginning  or  ending 
with  the  equivalent  of  Jehovah,  including  most  of  the 
kings  of  Judah  and  many  of  the  kings  of  Israel. 
Moreover,  some  names  which  have  not  these  prefixes 

'  Nestle,  p.  68. 


36  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

and  affixes  in  their  extant  form  are  contractions  of 
older  forms  which  began  or  ended  with  a  Divine  name. 
Ahaz,  for  instance,  is  mentioned  in  Assyrian  inscriptions 
as  Jahuhazi — i.e.,  Jehoahaz — and  Nathan  is  probably  a 
contracted  form  of  Nethaniah. 

There  are  also  numerous  compounds  of  other  Divine 
names.  Zur,  rock,  is  found  in  Pedahzur,  ^  Shaddai, 
A.V.  Almighty,  in  AmmishaddaP ',  the  two  are  com- 
bined in  Zurishaddai.^  Melech  is  a  Divine  name  in 
Malchi-ram  and  Malchi-shua.  Baal  occurs  as  a  Divine 
name  in  Eshbaal  and  Merihbaal.  Abi,  father,  is  a 
Divine  name  in  Abiram,  Abinadab,  etc.,  and  probably 
also  Ahi  in  Akiram  and  Ammi  in  Amminadab.^  Pos- 
sibly, too,  the  apparently  simple  names  Melech,  Zur, 
Baal,  are  contractions  of  longer  forms  in  which  these 
Divine  names  were  prefixes  or  affixes. 

This  use  of  Divine  names  is  capable  of  very  varied 
illustration.  Modern  languages  have  Christian  and 
Christopher,  Emmanuel,  Theodosius,  Theodora,  etc.; 
names  like  Hermogenes  and  Heliogabalus  are  found 
in  the  classical  languages.  But  the  practice  is  specially 
characteristic  of  Semitic  languages.  Mohammedan 
princes  are  still  called  Abdurrahman,  servant  of  the 
Merciful,  and  Abdallah,  servant  of  God  ;  ancient  Phoeni- 
cian kings  were  named  Ethbaal  and  Abdalonim,  where 
alonim  is  a  plural  Divine  name,  and  the  bal  in  Hannibal 
and  Hasdrubal  ==  baal.  The  Assyrian  and  Chaldaean 
kings  were  named  after  the  gods  Sin,  Nebo,  Assur, 
Merodach,  e.g.,  Sin-akki-irib  (Sennacherib) ;  Nebuchad- 
nezzar; Assur-bani-pal ',  Merodach-baladan. 

Of  these  Divine  names  El  and  Baal  are  common  to 
Israel  and  other  Semitic  peoples,  and  it  has  been  held 

'  Num.  i.  lo.         ^  Num.  i.  12.         ^  Num.  i.  6.         ^  Cf.  p.  40. 


i.-ix.]  NAMES  37 

that  the  Hebrew  personal  names  preserve  traces  of 
polytheism.  In  any  case,  however,  the  Baal-names 
are  comparatively  few,  and  do  not  necessarily  indicate 
that  Israelites  worshipped  a  Baal  distinct  from  Jehovah  ; 
they  may  be  relics  of  a  time  when  Baal  (Lord)  was  a 
title  or  equivalent  of  Jehovah,  like  the  later  Adonai. 
Other  possible  traces  of  polytheism  are  few  and  doubt- 
ful. In  Baanah  and  Resheph  we  may  perhaps  find 
the  obscure^  Phoenician  deities  Anath  and  Reshaph. 
On  the  whole,  Hebrew  names  as  compared,  for  instance, 
with  Assyrian  afford  little  or  no  evidence  of  the  pre- 
valence of  polytheism. 

Another  question  concerns  the  origin  and  use  of  the 
name  Jehovah.  Our  lists  conclusively  prove  its  free 
use  during  the  monarchy  and  its  existence  under  the 
judges.  On  the  other  hand,  its  apparent  presence  in 
Jochebed,  the  name  of  the  mother  of  Moses,  seems  to 
carry  it  back  beyond  Moses.  Possibly  it  was  a  Divine 
name  peculiar  to  his  family  or  clan.  Its  occurrence  in 
Yahubidi,  a  king  of  Hamath,  in  the  time  of  Sargon 
may  be  due  to  direct  Israelite  influence.  Hamath  had 
frequent  relations  with  Israel  and  Judah. 

Turning  to  matters  of  practical  religion,  how  far  do 
these  names  help  us  to  understand  the  spiritual  life  of 
ancient  Israel  ?  The  Israelites  made  constant  use  of 
El  and  Jehovah  in  their  names,  and  we  have  no  parallel 
practice  Were  they  then  so  much  more  religious  than 
we  are  ?  Probably  in  a  sense  they  were.  It  is  true 
that  the  etymology  and  even  the  original  significance 
of  a  name  in  common  use  are  for  all  practical  purposes 
quickly  and  entirely  forgotten.  A  man  may  go  through 
a  life-time  bearing  the  name  of  Christopher  and  never 
know  its   etymological    meaning.     At  Cambridge    and 

'  xi.  30;  vii.  25  (Nestle). 


38  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

Oxford  sacred  names  like  "Jesus"  and  "Trinity  "are 
used  constantly  and  familiarly  without  suggesting  any- 
thing beyond  the  colleges  so  called.  The  edifying 
phrase,  **  God  encompasseth  us,"  is  altogether  lost  in 
the  grotesque  tavern  sign  "  The  Goat  and  Compasses." 
Nor  can  we  suppose  that  the  Israelite  or  the  Assyrian 
often  dwelt  on  the  religious  significance  of  the  Jeho- 
or  -iah,  the  Nebo,  Sin,  or  Merodach,  of  current  proper 
names.  As  we  have  seen,  the  sense  of  -t'ah,  -el, 
or  Jeho-  was  often  so  little  present  to  men's  minds 
that  contractions  were  formed  by  omitting  them.  Pos- 
sibly because  these  prefixes  and  affixes  were  so 
common,  they  came  to  be  taken  for  granted ;  it  was 
scarcely  necessary  to  write  them,  because  in  any  case 
they  would  be  understood.  Probably  in  historic  times 
Abi-,  Ahi-,  and  Amnii-  were  no  longer  recognised  as 
Divine  names  or  titles ;  and  yet  the  names  which  could 
still  be  recognised  as  compounded  of  El  and  Jehovah 
must  have  had  their  influence  on  popular  feeling. 
They  were  part  of  the  religiousness,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  ancient  East ;  they  symbolised  the  constant  inter- 
twining of  religious  acts,  and  words,  and  thoughts  with 
all  the  concerns  of  life.  The  quality  of  this  ancient 
religion  was  very  inferior  to  that  of  a  devout  and 
intelligent  modern  Christian  ;  it  was  perhaps  inferior 
to  that  of  Russian  peasants  belonging  to  the  Greek 
Church  :  but  ancient  religion  pervaded  life  and-society 
more  consciously  than  modern  Christianity  does ;  it 
touched  all  classes  and  occasions  more  directly,  if  also 
more  mechanically.  And,  again,  these  names  were  not 
the  fossil  relics  of  obsolete  habits  of  thought  and 
feeling,  like  the  names  of  our  churches  and  colleges  ; 
they  were  the  memorials  of  comparatively  recent 
acts  of  faith.     The  name  "  Elijah  "  commemorated  the 


i.-ix.]  NAMES  39 

solemn  occasion  on  which  a  father  professed  his  own 
faith  and  consecrated  a  new-born  child  to  the  true 
God  by  naming  his  boy  "  Jehovah  is  my  God."  This 
name-giving  was  also  a  prayer :  the  child  was  placed 
under  the  protection  of  the  deity  whose  name  it  bore. 
The  practice  might  be  tainted  with  superstition ;  the 
name  would  often  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  amulet ; 
and  yet  we  may  believe  that  it  could  also  serve  to 
express  a  parent's  earnest  and  simple-minded  faith. 
Modern  Englishmen  have  developed  a  habit  of  almost 
complete  reticence  and  reserve  on  religious  matters, 
and  this  habit  is  illustrated  by  our  choice  of  proper 
names.  Mary,  and  Thomas,  and  James  are  so  familiar 
that  their  Scriptural  origin  is  forgotten,  and  therefore 
they  are  tolerated ;  but  the  use  of  distinctively  Scrip- 
tural Christian  names  is  virtually  regarded  as  bad 
taste.  This  reticence  is  not  merely  due  to  increased 
delicacy  of  spiritual  feeling :  it  is  partly  the  result  of 
the  growth  of  science  and  of  literary  and  historical 
criticism.  We  have  become  absorbed  in  the  wonderful 
revelations  of  methods  and  processes  ;  we  are  fascinated 
by  the  ingenious  mechanism  of  nature  and  society. 
We  have  no  leisure  to  detach  our  thoughts  from  the 
machinery  and  carry  them  further  on  to  its  Maker  and 
Director.  Indeed,  because  there  is  so  much  mechanism 
and  because  it  is  so  wonderful,  we  are  sometimes  asked 
to  believe  that  the  machine  made  itself.  But  this  is 
a  mere  phase  in  the  religious  growth  of  mankind  : 
humanity  will  tire  of  some  of  its  new  toys,  and  will 
become  familiar  with  the  rest  ;  deeper  needs  and 
instincts  will  reassert  themselves ;  and  men  will  find 
themselves  nearer  in  sentiment  than  they  supposed 
to  the  ancient  people  who  named  their  children  after 
their  God.     In  this  and  other  matters  the  East  tc-day 


40  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

is  the  same  as  of  old ;  the  permanence  of  its  custom  is 
no  inapt  symbol  of  the  permanence  of  Divine  truth, 
which  revolution  and  conquest  are  powerless  to 
change. 

"The  East  bowed  low  before  the  blast 
In  patient,  deep   disdain  ; 
She  let  the  legions  thunder  past, 
And  plunged  in  thought  again." 

But  the  Christian  Church  is  mistress  of  a  more  com- 
pelling magic  than  even  Eastern  patience  and  tenacity : 
out  o-f  the  storms  that  threaten  her,  she  draws  new 
energies  for  service,  and  learns  a  more  expressive 
language  in  which  to  declare  the  glory  of  God. 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  meanings  of  the 
group  of  Divine  names  given  above.  We  have  said 
that,  in  addition  to  Melech  in  Malchi-,  Abt,  Ahi,  and 
Ainmi  are  to  be  regarded  as  Divine  names.  One 
reason  for  this  is  that  their  use  as  prefixes  is  strictly 
analogous  to  that  of  El  and  Jeho-.  We  have  Abijah 
and  Ahijah  as  well  as  Elijah,  Abiel  and  Ammiel  as 
well  as  Eliel,  Abiram  and  Ahirant  as  well  z.s  Jehoraitt ; 
Ammishaddai  compares  with  Ziirishaddai,  and  Ammi- 
zabad  with  Jehozabad,  nor  would  it  be  difficult  to  add 
many  other  examples.  If  this  view  be  correct,  Ammi 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Hebrew  word  for 
"  people,"  but  will  rather  be  connected  with  the  corre- 
sponding Arabic  word  for  "  uncle."  ^  As  the  use  of 
such  terms  as  ''  brother  "  and  "  uncle  "  for  Divine  names 
is  not  consonant  with  Hebrew  theology  in  its  historic 
period,  the  names  which  contain  these  prefixes  must 
have  come  down  from  earlier  ages,  and  were  used  in 
later  times  without  any  consciousness  of  their  original 
sense.     Probably  they  were  explained  by  new  etymo- 

'  Nestle. 


i.-ix.]  NAMES  4 1 

logics  more  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  times ; 
compare  the  etymology  "  father  of  a  multitude  of 
nations  "  given  to  Abraham.  Even  Abi-,  father,  in  the 
early  times  to  which  its  use  as  a  prefix  must  be  referred, 
cannot  have  had  the  full  spiritual  meaning  which  now 
attaches  to  it  as  a  Divine  title.  It  probably  only  signi- 
fied the  ultinmte  source  of  life.  The  disappearance  of 
these  religious  terms  from  the  common  vocabulary  and 
their  use  in  names  long  after  their  significance  had 
been  forgotten  are  ordinary  phenomena  in  the  develop- 
ment of  language  and  religion.  How  many  of  the 
millions  who  use  our  English  names  for  the  days  of  the 
week  ever  give  a  thought  to  Thor  or  Freya  ?  Such 
phenomena  have  more  than  an  antiquarian  interest. 
They  remind  us  that  religious  terms,  and  phrases,  and 
formulae  derive  their  influence  and  value  from  their 
adaptation  to  the  age  which  accepts  them ;  and  there- 
fore many  of  them  will  become  unintelligible  or  even 
misleading  to  later  generations.  Language  varies  con- 
tinuously, circumstances  change,  experience  widens,  and 
every  age  has  a  right  to  demand  that  Divine  truth 
shall  be  presented  in  the  words  and  metaphors  that 
give  it  the  clearest  and  most  forcible  expression.  Many 
of  the  simple  truths  that  are  most  essential  to  salvation 
admit  of  being  stated  once  for  all ;  but  dogmatic 
theology  fossilises  fast,  and  the  bread  of  one  generation 
may  become  a  stone  to  the  next. 

The  history  of  these  names  illustrates  yet  another 
phenomenon.  In  some  narrow  and  imperfect  sense  the 
early  Semitic  peoples  seem  to  have  called  God  "  Father  " 
and  "  Brother."  Because  the  terms  were  limited  to  a 
narrow  sense,  the  Israelites  grew  to  a  level  of  religious 
truth  at  which  they  could  no  longer  use  them  ;  but  as 
they  made  yet  further  progress  they  came  to  know  more 


42  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

of  what  was  meant  by  fatherhood  and  brotherhood, 
and  gained  also  a  deeper  knowledge  of  God.  At  length 
the  Church  resumed  these  ancient  Semitic  terms  ;  and 
Christians  call  God  "  Abba,  Father,"  and  speak  of  the 
Eternal  Son  as  their  elder  Brother.  And  thus  some- 
times, but  not  always,  an  antique  phrase  may  for  a  time 
seem  unsuitable  and  misleading,  and  then  again  may 
prove  to  be  the  best  expression  for  the  newest  and 
fullest  truth.  Our  criticism  of  a  religious  formula  may 
simply  reveal  our  failure  to  grasp  the  wealth  of  meaning 
which  its  words  and  symbols  can  contain. 

Turning  from  these  obsolete  names  to  those  in 
common  use — El;  Jehovah;  Shaddai ;  Zur ;  Melech — 
probably  the  prevailing  idea  popularly  associated  with 
them  all  was  that  of  strength :  El,  strength  in  the 
abstract ;  Jehovah,  strength  shown  in  permanence  and 
independence ;  Shaddai,  the  strength  that  causes  terror, 
the  Almighty  from  whom  cometh  destruction  ^ ;  Zur, 
rock,  the  material  symbol  of  strength ;  Melech,  king, 
the  possessor  of  authority.  In  early  times  the  first 
and  most  essential  attribute  of  Deity  is  power,  but 
with  this  idea  of  strength  a  certain  attribute  of  benefi- 
cence is  soon  associated.  The  strong  God  is  the  Ally 
of  His  people  ;  His  permanence  is  the  guarantee  of  their 
national  existence ;  He  destroys  their  enemies.  The 
rock  is  a  place  of  refuge ;  and,  again,  Jehovah's  people 
may  rejoice  in  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land.  The  King  leads  them  to  battle,  and  gives  them 
their  enemies  for  a  spoil. 


'  Joel  i.  15 ;  Isa.  xiii.  6.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  discuss  either 
the  etymological  or  the  theological  history  of  these  words  in  their 
earliest  usage,  nor  need  we  do  more  than  recall  the  fact  that  Jehovah 
was  the  term  in  common  use  as  the  personal  name  of  the  God  of 
Israel,  while  El  was  rare  and  sometimes  generic. 


i.-ix.]  NAMES  43 

We  must  not,  however,  suppose  that  pious  IsraeHtes 
would  consciously  and  systematically  discriminate 
between-  these  names,  any  more  than  ordinary  Chris- 
tians do  between  God,  Lord,  Father,  Christ,  Saviour, 
Jesus.  Their  usage  would  be  governed  by  changing 
currents  of  sentiment  very  difficult  to  understand  and 
explain  after  the  lapse  of  thousands  of  years.  In  the 
year  a.d.  3000,  for  instance,  it  will  be  difficult  for  the 
historian  of  dogmatics  to  explain  accurately  why  some 
nineteenth-century  Christians  preferred  to  speak  of 
"  dear  Jesus  "  and  others  of  "  the  Christ." 

But  the  simple  Divine  names  reveal  comparatively 
little ;  much  more  may  be  learnt  from  the  numerous 
compounds  they  help  to  form.  Some  of  the  more 
curious  have  already  been  noticed,  but  the  real  signifi- 
cance of  this  nomenclature  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the 
more  ordinary  and  natural  names.  Here,  as  before, 
we  can  only  select  from  the  long  and  varied  list.  Let 
us  take  some  of  the  favourite  names  and  some  of  the 
roots  most  often  used,  almost  always,  be  it  remembered, 
in  combination  with  Divine  names.  The  different 
varieties  of  these  sacred  names  rendered  it  possible 
to  construct  various  personal  names  embodying  the 
same  idea.  Also  the  same  Divine  name  might  be  used 
either  as  prefix  or  affix.  For  instance,  the  idea  that 
*'  God  knows  "  is  equally  well  expressed  in  the  names 
Eliada  (El-yada'),  Jediael  (Yada'-el),  Jehoiada  (Jeho- 
yada'),  and  Jedaiah  (Yada'-yah).  "  God  remembers  " 
is  expressed  alike  by  Zachariah  and  Jozachar ;  "  God 
hears "  by  Elishama  (El-shama'),  Samuel  (if  for 
Shama'-el),  Ishmael  (also  from  Shama'-el),  Shemaiah, 
and  Ishmaiah  (both  from  Shama'  and  Yah) ;  "  God 
gives"  by  Elnathan,  Nethaneel,  Jonathan,  and  Nethaniah  ; 
"  God  helps  "  by  Eliezer,  Azareel,  Joezer,  and  Azariah ; 


44  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

"  God  is  gracious "  by  Elhanan,  Hananeel,  Johanan, 
Hananiah,  Baal-hanan,  and,  for  a  Carthaginian, 
Hannibalj  giving  us  a  curious  connection  between 
the  Apostle  of  love,  John  (Johanan),  and  the  deadly 
enemy  of  Rome. 

The  way  in  which  the  changes  are  rung  upon  these 
ideas  shows  how  the  ancient  Israelites  loved  to  dwell 
upon  them.  Nestle  reckons  that  in  the  Old  Testament 
sixty-one  persons  have  names  formed  from  the  root 
nathan,  to  give ;  fifty-seven  from  shama,  to  hear ; 
fifty-six  from  'azar,  to  help ;  forty-five  from  hanan,  to 
be  gracious ;  forty-four  from  zakhar,  to  remember. 
Many  persons,  too,  bear  names  from  the  root  yada\ 
to  know.  The  favourite  name  is  Zechariah,  which  is 
borne^by  twenty-five  different  persons. 

Hence,  according  to  the  testimony  of  names,  the 
Israelites'  favourite  ideas  about  God  were  that  He  heard, 
and  knew,  and  remembered ;  that  He  was  gracious,  and 
helped  men,  and  gave  them  gifts  :  but  they  loved  best 
to  think  of  Him  as  God  the  Giver.  Their  nomenclature 
recognises  many  other  attributes,  but  these  take  the 
first  place.  The  value  of  this  testimony  is  enhanced 
by  its  utter  unconsciousness  and  naturalness  ;  it  brings 
us  nearer  to  the  average  man  in  his  religious  moments 
than  any  psalm  or  prophetic  utterance.  Men's  chief 
interest  in  God  was  as  the  Giver.  The  idea  has  proved 
very  permanent ;  St.  James  amplifies  it :  God  is  the 
Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift.  It  lies  latent 
in  names :  Theodosius,  Theodore,  Theodora,  and 
Dorothea,  The  other  favourite  ideas  are  all  related 
to  this.  God  hears  men's  prayers,  and  knows  their 
needs,  and  remembers  them ;  He  is  gracious,  and  helps 
them  by  His  gifts.  Could  anything  be  more  pathetic 
than   this   artless   self-revelation  ?     Men's  minds  have 


i.-ix.]  NAMES  45 

little  leisure  for  sin  and  salvation ;  they  are  kept  down 
by  the  constant  necessity  of  preserving  and  providing 
for  a  bare  existence.  Their  cry  to  God  is  like  the 
prayer  of  Jacob,  "If  Thou  wilt  give  me  bread  to  eat 
and  raiment  to  put  on  1 "  The  very  confidence  and 
gratitude  that  the  names  express  imply  periods  of  doubt 
and  fear,  when  they  said,  *'  Can  God  prepare  a  table 
in  the  wilderness  ? "  times  when  it  seemed  to  them 
impossible  that  God  could  have  heard  their  prayer  or 
that  He  knew  their  misery,  else  why  was  there  no 
deliverance  ?  Had  God  forgotten  to  be  gracious  ?  Did 
He  indeed  remember  ?  The  names  come  to  us  as 
answers  of  faith  to  these  suggestions  of  despair. 

Possibly  these  old-world  saints  were  not  more  pre- 
occupied with  their  material  needs  than  most  modern 
Christians.  Perhaps  it  is  necessary  to  believe  in  a 
God  who  rules  on  earth  before  we  can  understand  the 
Father  who  is  in  heaven.  Does  a  man  really  trust  in  God 
for  eternal  life  if  he  cannot  trust  Him  for  daily  bread  ? 
But  in  any  case  these  names  provide  us  with  very 
comprehensive  formulae,  which  we  are  at  liberty  to 
apply  as  freely  as  we  please  :  the  God  who  knows, 
and  hears,  and  remembers,  who  is  gracious,  and  helps 
men,  and  gives  them  gifts.  To  begin  with,  note  how 
in  a  great  array  of  Old  Testament  names'  God  is  the 
Subject,  Actor,  and  Worker ;  the  supreme  facts  of  life 
are  God  and  God's  doings,  not  man  and  man's  doings, 
what  God  is  to  man,  not  what  man  is  to  God.  This  is 
a  foreshadowing  of  the  Christian  doctrines  of  grace  and 
of  the  Divine  sovereignty.  And  again  we  are  left  to 
fill  in  the  objects  of  the  sentences  for  ourselves  :  God 
hears,  and  remembers,  and  gives — what  ?  All  that  we 
have  to  say  to  Him  and  all  that  we  are  capable  of 
receiving  from  Him. 


CHAPTER    II 

HEREDITY 
\  Chron.  i.-ix. 

IT  has  been  said  that  Religion  is  the  great  discoverer 
of  truth,  while  Science  follows  her  slowly  and  after 
a  long  interval.  Heredity,  so  much  discussed  just  now, 
is  sometimes  treated  as  if  its  principles  were  a  great 
discovery  of  the  present  century.  Popular  science  is 
apt  to  ignore  history  and  to  mistake  a  fresh  nomen- 
clature for  an  entirely  new  system  of  truth,  and  yet 
the  immense  and  far-reaching  importance  of  heredity 
has  been  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  thought  ever 
since  history  began.  Science  has  been  anticipated,  not 
merely  by  religious  feeling,  but  by  a  universal  instinct. 
In  the  old  world  political  and  social  systems  have  been 
based  upon  the  recognition  of  the  principle  of  heredity, 
and  religion  has  sanctioned  such  recognition.  Caste 
in  India  is  a  religious  even  more  than  a  social  institu- 
tion ;  and  we  use  the  term  figuratively  in  reference  to 
ancient  and  modern  life,  even  when  the  institution  has 
not  formally  existed.  Without  the  aid  of  definite  civil 
or  religious  law  the  force  of  sentiment  and  circum- 
stances suffices  to  establish  an  informal  system  of  caste. 
Thus  the  feudal  aristocracy  and  guilds  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  not  without  their  rough  counterparts  in  the 
Old  Testament.  Moreover,  the  local  divisions  of  the 
Hebrew  kingdoms  corresponded  in  theory,  at  any  rate, 

46 


i.-ix.]  HEREDITY  47 

to  blood  relationships ;  and  the  tribe,  the  clan,  and  the 
family  had  even  more  fixity  and  importance  than  now 
belong  to  the  parish  or  the  municipality.  A  man's 
family  history  or  genealogy  was  the  ruling  factor  in 
determining  his  home,  his  occupation,  and  his  social 
position.  In  the  chronicler's  time  this  was  especially 
the  case  with  the  official  ministers  of  religion,  the 
Temple  establishment  to  which  he  himself  belonged. 
The  priests,  the  Levites,  the  singers,  and  doorkeepers 
formed  castes  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word.  A  man's 
birth  definitely  assigned  him  to  one  of  these  classes,  to 
which  none  but  the  members  of  certain  families  could 
belong. 

But    the    genealogies    had    a    deeper    significance. 
Israel  was  Jehovah's  chosen  people.  His  son,  to  whom 
special  privileges  were  guaranteed  by  solemn  covenant. 
A  man's  claim  to  share  in  this  covenant  depended  on 
his  genuine   Israelite   descent,   and  the   proof  of  such 
descent  was  an  authentic  genealogy.     In  these  chapters 
the     chronicler    has    taken    infinite    pains    to    collect 
pedigrees  from  all  available  sources  and  to  construct 
a  complete   set   of  genealogies  exhibiting  the  lines  of 
descent  of  the  families  of  Israel.     His  interest  in  this 
research  was  not  merely  antiquarian  :  he  was  investi- 
gating matters  of  the  greatest  social  and  religious  import- 
ance to  all  the  members  of  the  Jewish  community,  and 
especially  to  his  colleagues  and  friends  in  the  Temple 
service.     These  chapters,  which  seem  to  us  so  dry  and 
useless,   were    probably   regarded    by  the    chronicler's 
contemporaries  as  the  most  important  part  of  his  work. 
The   preservation    or    discovery   of  a   genealogy   was 
almost  a  matter  of  life  and  death.     Witness  the  episode 
in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah^:    "And    of  the    priests:    the 

'  Ezra  ii,  61-63  )  Neh.  vii.  63-65. 


48  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

children  of  Hobaiah,  the  children  of  Hakkoz,  the 
children  of  Barzillai,  which  took  a  wife  of  the  daughters 
of  Barzillai  the  Gileadite,  and  was  called  after  their 
name.  These  sought  their  register  among  those  that 
were  reckoned  by  genealogy,  but  it  was  not  found ;  there- 
fore they  were  deemed  polluted  and  put  from  the  priest- 
hood. And  the  governor  said  unto  them  that  they 
should  not  eat  of  the  most  holy  things,  till  there  stood 
up  a  priest  with  Urim  and  Thummim."  Cases  like 
these  would  stimulate  our  author's  enthusiasm.  As 
he  turned  over  dusty  receptacles,  and  unrolled  frayed 
parchments,  and  painfully  deciphered  crabbed  and 
faded  script,  he  would  be  excited  by  the  hope  of  dis- 
covering some  mislaid  genealogy  that  would  restore 
outcasts  to  their  full  status  and  privileges  as  Israelites 
and  priests.  Doubtless  he  had  already  acquired  in 
some  measure  the  subtle  exegesis  and  minute  casuistry 
that  were  the  glory  of  later  Rabbinism.  Ingenious 
interpretation  of  obscure  writing  or  the  happy  emenda- 
tion of  half-obliterated  words  might  lend  opportune 
aid  in  the  recovery  of  a  genealogy.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  were  vested  interests  ready  to  protest  against  the 
too  easy  acceptance  of  new  claims.  The  priestly 
families  of  undoubted  descent  from  Aaron  would  not 
thank  a  chronicler  for  reviving  lapsed  rights  to  a  share 
in  the  offices  and  revenues  of  the  Temple.  This 
part  of  our  author's  task  was  as  delicate  as  it  was 
important. 

We  will  now  briefly  consider  the  genealogies  in 
these  chapters  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  given. 
Chap.  i.  contains  genealogies  of  the  patriarchal  period 
selected  from  Genesis.  The  existing  races  of  the 
world  are  all  traced  back  through  Shem,  Ham,  and 
Japheth   to    Noah,  and   through    him   to  Adam.     The 


i.-ix.]  HEREDITY  49 

chronicler  thus  accepts  and  repeats  the  doctrine  of 
Genesis  that  God  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  for 
to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth. ^  All  mankind, 
"  Greek  and  Jew,  circumcision  and  uncircumcision, 
barbarian,  Scythian,  bondman,  freeman,"^  were  alike 
descended  from  Noah,  who  was  saved  from  the  Flood 
by  the  special  care  of  God  ;  from  Enoch,  who  walked 
with  God  ;  from  Adam,  who  was  created  by  God  in  His 
own  image  and  likeness.  The  Israelites  did  not  claim, 
like  certain  Greek  clans,  to  be  the  descendants  of  a 
special  god  of  their  own,  or,  like  the  Athenians,  to  have 
sprung  miraculously  from  sacred  soil.  Their  genealogies 
testified  that  not  merely  Israelite  nature,  but  human 
nature,  is  moulded  on  a  Divine  pattern.  These  appa- 
rently barren  lists  of  names  enshrine  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  the  universal  brotherhood  of  men  and  the 
universal  Fatherhood  of  God.  The  chronicler  wrote 
when  the  broad  universalism  of  the  prophets  was  being 
replaced  by  the  hard  exclusiveness  of  Judaism  ;  and  yet, 
perhaps  unconsciously,  he  reproduces  the  genealogies 
which  were  to  be  one  weapon  of  St.  Paul  in  his  struggle 
with  that  exclusiveness.  The  opening  chapters  of 
Genesis  and  Chronicles  are  among  the  foundations  of 
the  catholicity  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

For  the  antediluvian  period  only  the  Sethite  genea- 
logy is  given.  The  chronicler's  object  was  simply  to 
give  the  origin  of  existing  races  ;  and  the  descendants  of 
Cain  were  omitted,  as  entirely  destroyed  by  the  Flood. 

Following  the  example  of  Genesis,  the  chronicler 
gives  the  genealogies  of  other  races  at  the  points  at 
which  they  diverged  from  the  ancestral  line  of  Israel, 
and  then  continues  the  family  history  of  the  chosen 
race.     In    this  way    the    descendants    of  Japheth    and 

'  Acts  xvii.  26,  '■*  Col,  iii.  11. 

4 


so  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Ham,  the  non-Abrahamic  Semites,  the  IshmaeUtes,  the 
sons  of  Keturah,  and  the  Edomites  are  successively 
mentioned. 

The  relations  of  Israel  with  Edom  were  always  close 
and  mostly  hostile.  The  Edomites  had  taken  advantage 
of  the  overthrow  of  the  southern  kingdom  to  appro- 
priate the  south  of  Judah,  and  still  continued  to  occupy 
it.  The  keen  interest  felt  by  the  chronicler  in  Edom 
is  shown  by  the  large  space  devoted  to  the  Edomites. 
The  close  contiguity  of  the  Jews  and  Idumaeans 
tended  to  promote  mutual  intercourse  between  them, 
and  even  threatened  an  eventual  fusion  of  the  two 
peoples.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Idumaean  Herods 
became  rulers  of  Judaea.  To  guard  against  such 
dangers  to  the  separateness  of  the  Jewish  people,  the 
chronicler  emphasises  the  historical  distinction  of  race 
between  them  and  the  Edomites. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  second  chapter  onwards 
the  genealogies  are  wholly  occupied  with  Israelites. 
The  author's  special  interest  in  Judah  is  at  once  mani- 
fested. After  giving  the  list  of  the  twelve  Patriarchs 
he  devotes  two  and  a  half  chapters  to  the  families  of 
Judah.  Here  again  the  materials  have  been  mostly 
obtained  from  the  earlier  historical  books.  They  are, 
however,  combined  with  more  recent  traditions,  so  that 
in  this  chapter  matter  from  different  sources  is  pieced 
together  in  a  very  confusing  fashion.  One  source  of 
this  confusion  was  the  principle  that  the  Jewish  com- 
munity could  only  consist  of  families  of  genuine  Israelite 
descent.  Now  a  large  number  of  the  returned  exiles 
traced  their  descent  to  two  brothers,  Caleb  and  Jerah- 
meel ;  but  in  the  older  narratives  Caleb  and  Jerahmeel 
are  not  Israelites.     Caleb  is  a  Kenizzite,^  and  his  de- 

'  Josh.  xiv.  6, 


i.-ix.]  HEREDITY  51 

scendants    and    those    of   Jerahmeel    appear   in    close 
connection   with    the    Kenites.^     Even   in   this  chapter 
certain  of  the  Calebites  are  called  Kenites  and  connected 
in  some  strange  way  with  the   Rechabites.^     Though 
at  the  close  of  the  monarchy  the  Calebites  and  Jerah- 
meelites  had  become  an  integral  part  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah,   their  separate   origin   had   not   been   forgotten, 
and  Caleb  and  Jerahmeel  had  not  been  included  in  the 
Israelite  genealogies.     But   after  the  Exile   men  came 
to  feel  more  and  more  strongly  that  a  common  faith 
implied   unity  of  race.     Moreover,  the  practical  unity 
of  the  Jews  with   these   Kenizzites  overbore  the  dim 
and  fading  memory  of  ancient  tribal  distinctions.     Jews 
and  Kenizzites  had  shared  the  Captivity,  the  Exile,  and 
the  Return ;    they  worked,  and  fought,  and  worshipped 
side  by  side ;  and  they  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
one  nation,  alike  the  people  of  Jehovah.     This  obvious 
and  important  practical  truth  was  expressed  as  such 
truths  were  then  wont  to  be  expressed.     The  children 
of    Caleb    and    Jerahmeel    were    finally   and    formally 
adopted  into  the   chosen   race.     Caleb  and  Jerahmeel 
are   no  longer  the   sons  of  Jephunneh  the  Kenizzite ; 
they  are  the  sons  of  Hezron,  the  son  of  Perez,  the  son 
of  Judah.^     A  new  genealogy  was  formed  as  a  recogni- 
tion rather  than  an  explanation  of  accomplished  facts. 

Of  the  section  containing  the  genealogies  of  Judah, 
the  lion's  share  is  naturally  given  to  the  house  of 
David,  to  which  a  part  of  the  second  chapter  and  the 
whole  of  the  third  are  devoted. 

'   I  Sam.  xxvii.  10. 

'  Ver.  55. 

^  The  occurrence  of  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh  in  iv.  15,  ^i.  56, 
in  no  way  miUtates  against  this  view :  the  chronicler,  like  other 
redactors,  is  simply  inserting  borrowed  material  without  correcting  it. 
Chelubai  in  ii.  9  stands  for  Coleb;  cf.  ii.  18. 


52  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Next  follow  genealogies  of  the  remaining  tribes, 
those  of  Levi  and  Benjamin  being  by  far  the  most 
complete.  Chap,  vi.,  which  is  devoted  to  Levi,  affords 
evidence  of  the  use  by  the  chronicler  of  indepen- 
dent and  sometimes  inconsistent  sources,  and  also 
illustrates  his  special  interest  in  the  priesthood  and  the 
Temple  choir.  A  list  of  high-priests  from  Aaron  to 
Ahimaaz  is  given  twice  over  (vv,  4-8  and  49-53),  but 
only  one  line  of  high-priests  is  recognised,  the  house 
of  Zadok,  whom  Josiah's  reforms  had  made  the  one 
priestly  family  in  Israel.  Their  ancient  rivals  the  high- 
priests  of  the  house  of  Eli  are  as  entirely  ignored  as 
the  antediluvian  Cainites.  The  existing  high-priestly 
dynasty  had  been  so  long  established  that  these  other 
priests  of  Saul  and  David  seemed  no  longer  to  have 
any  significance  for  the  religion  of  Israel. 

The  pedigree  of  the  three  Levitical  families  of 
Gershom,  Kohath,  and  Merari  is  also  given  twice  over : 
in  vv.  16-30  and  31-49.  The  former  pedigree  begins 
with  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  proceeds  to  their  descendants  ; 
the  latter  begins  with  the  founders  of  the  guilds  of 
singers,  Heman,  Asaph,  and  Ethan,  and  traces  back 
their  genealogies  to  Kohath,  Gershom,  and  Merari 
respectively.  But  the  pedigrees  do  not  agree  ;  compare, 
for  instance,  the  lists  of  the  Kohathites  : — 


22-24. 

36-38. 

Kohath 

Kohath 

Amminadab 

Izhar 

Korah 

Korah 

Assir 

Elkanah 

Ebiasaph 

Ebiasaph 

Assir 

Assir 

i.-ix.]  HEREDITY  53 


22-24. 

36-38 

Tahath 

Tahath 

Uriel 

Zephaniah 

Uzziah 

Azariah 

Shaul 

etc. 

We  have  here  one  of  many  illustrations  of  the  fact 
that  the  chronicler  used  materials  of  very  different 
value.  To  attempt  to  prove  the  absolute  consistency 
of  all  his  genealogies  would  be  mere  waste  of  time.  It 
is  by  no  means  certain  that  he  himself  supposed  them 
to  be  consistent.  The  frank  juxtaposition  of  varying 
lists  of  ancestors  rather  suggests  that  he  was  prompted 
by  a  scholarly  desire  to  preserve  for  his  readers  all 
available  evidence  of  every  kind. 

In  reading  the  genealogies  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin, 
it  is  specially  interesting  to  find  that  in  the  Jewish 
community  of  the  Restoration  there  were  families 
tracing  their  descent  through  Mephibosheth  and 
Jonathan  to  Saul.^  Apparently  the  chronicler  and 
his  contemporaries  shared  this  special  interest  in  the 
fortunes  of  a  fallen  dynasty,  for  the  genealogy  is  given 
twice  over.  These  circumstances  are  the  more  striking 
because  in  the  actual  history  of  Chronicles  Saul  is  all 
but  ignored. 

The  rest  of  the  ninth  chapter  deals  with  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Jerusalem  and  the  ministry  of  the  Temple 
after  the  return  from  the  Captivity,  and  is  partly 
identical  with  sections  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  It 
closes  the  family  history,  as  it  were,  of  Israel,  and  its 
position  indicates  the  standpoint  and  ruling  interests 
of  the  chronicler. 

'  viii.  33-40 ;  ix.  35-44.  We  have  used  Mephibosheth  as  more 
^miliar,  but  Chronicles  reads  Meribbaal,  which  is  more  correct. 


54  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

Thus  the  nine  opening  chapters  of  genealogies  and 
kindred  matter  strike  the  key-notes  of  the  whole  book. 
Some  are  personal  and  professional ;  some  are  religious. 
On  the  one  hand,  we  have  the  origin  of  existing  families 
and  institutions ;  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  elec- 
tion of  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  the  house  of  David, 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi  and  the  house  of  Aaron. 

Let  us  consider  first  the  hereditary  character  of  the 
Jewish  religion  and  priesthood.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
the  formal  doctrine  only  recognised  and  accepted  actual 
facts.  The  conditions  which  received  the  sanction  of 
religion  were  first  imposed  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances. In  primiitive  times,  if  there  was  to  be  any 
religion  at  all,  it  had  to  be  national ;  if  God  was  to  be 
worshipped  at  all,  His  worship  was  necessarily  national, 
and  He  became  in  some  measure  a  national  God. 
Sympathies  are  limited  by  knowledge  and  by  common 
interest.  The  ordinary  Israelite  knew  very  little  of 
any  other  people  than  his  own.  There  was  little 
international  comity  in  primitive  times,  and  nations 
were  slow  to  recognise  that  they  had  common  interests. 
It  was  difficult  for  an  Israelite  to  believe  that  his 
beloved  Jehovah,  in  whom  he  had  been  taught  to 
trust,  was  also  the  God  of  the  Arabs  and  Syrians,  who 
periodically  raided  his  crops,  and  cattle,  and  slaves,  and 
sometimes  carried  off  his  children,  or  of  the  Chaldaeans, 
who  made  deliberate  and  complete  arrangements  for 
pluijdering  the  whole  country,  rasing  its  cities  to  the 
ground,  and  carrying  away  the  population  into  distant 
exile.  By  a  supreme  act  of  faith,  the  prophets  claimed 
the  enemies  and  oppressors  of  Israel  as  instruments 
of  the  will  of  Jehovah,  and  the  chronicler's  genealogies 
show  that  he  shared  this  faith ;  but  it  was  still  inevi- 
table that  the  Jews  should  look  out  upon  the  world  at 


i.-ix.]  HEREDITY  55 

large  from  the  standpoint  of  their  own  national  interests 
and  experience.  Jehovah  was  God  of  heaven  and 
earth ;  but  Israelites  knew  Him  through  the  deliverance 
He  had  wrought  for  Israel,  the  punishments  He  had 
inflicted  on  her  sins,  and  the  messages  He  had  entrusted 
to  her  prophets.  As  far  as  their  knowledge  and 
practical  experience  went,  they  knew  Him  as  the  God 
of  Israel.  The  course  of  events  since  the  fall  of 
Samaria  narrowed  still  further  the  local  associations 
of  Hebrew  worship. 

"  God  was  wroth, 
And  greatly  abhorred  Israel, 
So  that  He  forsook  the  tabernacle  of  Shiloh, 
The  tent  which  He  placed  among  men  ; 

He  refused  the  tent  of  Joseph, 

And  chose  not  the  tribe  of  Ephraim, 

But  chose  the  tribe  of  Judah, 

The  Mount  Zion  which  He  loved  : 

And   He  built  His  sanctuary  like  the  heights, 

Like  the  earth,  which  He  hath  established  for  ever."' 

We  are  doubtless  right  in  criticising  those  Jews  whose 
limitations  led  them  to  regard  Jehovah  as  a  kind  of  per- 
sonal possession,  the  inheritance  of  their  own  nation,  and 
not  of  other  peoples.  But  even  here  we  can  only  blame 
their  negations.  Jehovah  was  their  inheritance  and 
personal  possession ;  but  then  He  was  also  the  inherit- 
ance of  other  nations.  This  Jewish  heresy  is  by  no 
means  extinct :  white  men  do  not  always  believe  that 
their  God  is  equally  the  God  of  the  negro  ;  Englishmen 
are  inclined  to  think  that  God  is  the  God  of  England  in 
a  more  especial  way  than  He  is  the  God  of  France. 
When  we  discourse  concerning    God    in    history,   we 


'  Psalm  Ixxviii.  59,  60,  67-69. 


56  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

mostly  mean  our  own  history.  We  can  see  the  hand 
of  Providence  in  the  wreck  of  the  Armada  and  the 
overthrow  of  Napoleon  ;  but  we  are  not  so  ready  to 
recognise  in  the  same  Napoleon  the  Divine  instrument 
that  created  a  new  Europe  by  relieving  her  peoples 
from  cruel  and  degrading  tyranny.  We  scarcely  realise 
that  God  cares  as  much  for  the  Continent  as  He  does 
for  our  island. 

We  have  great  and  perhaps  sufficient  excuses,  but 
we  must  let  the  Jews  have  the  benefit  of  them.  God  is 
as  much  the  God  of  one  nation  as  of  another ;  but  He 
fulfils  Himself  to  different  nations  in  different  ways,  by 
a  various  providential  discipline.  Each  people  is  bound 
to  believe  that  God  has  specially  adapted  His  dealings 
to  its  needs,  nor  can  we  be  surprised  if  men  forget  or 
fail  to  observe  that  God  has  done  no  less  for  their 
neighbours.  Each  nation  rightly  regards  its  religious 
ideas,  and  life,  and  literature  as  a  precious  inheritance 
peculiarly  its  own  ;  and  it  should  not  be  too  severely 
blamed  for  being  ignorant  that  other  nations  have  their 
inheritance  also.  Such  considerations  largely  justify 
the  interest  in  heredity  shown  by  the  chronicler's 
genealogies.  On  the  positive,  practical  side,  religion 
is  largely  a  matter  of  heredity,  and  ought  to  be.  The 
Christian  sacrament  of  baptism  is  a  continual  profession 
of  this  truth  :  our  children  are  "  clean  "  ;  they  are  within 
the  covenant  of  grace ;  we  claim  for  them  the  privileges 
of  the  Church  to  Vv^hich  we  belong.  That  was  also  part 
of  the  meaning  of  the  genealogies. 

In  the  broad  field  of  social  and  religious  life  the 
problems  of  heredity  are  in  some  ways  less  complicated 
than  in  the  more  exact  discussions  of  physical  science. 
Practical  effects  can  be  considered  without  attempting 
an    accurate   analysis   of  causes.     Family  history   not 


i.-ix.]  HEREDtTY  57 

only  determines  physical  constitution,  mental  gifts,  and 
moral  character,  but  also  fixes  for  the  most  part 
country,  home,  education,  circumstances,  and  social 
position.  All  these  were  a  man's  inheritance  more 
peculiarly  in  Israel  than  with  us ;  and  in  many  cases 
in  Israel  a  man  was  often  trained  to  inherit  a  family 
profession.  Apart  from  the  ministry  of  the  Temple, 
we  read  of  a  family  of  craftsmen,  of  other  families  that 
were  potters,  of  others  who  dwelt  with  the  king  for 
his  work,  and  of  the  families  of  the  house  of  them  that 
wrought  fine  linen.  ^  Religion  is  largely  involved  in 
the  manifold  inheritance  which  a  man  receives  from  his 
fathers.  His  birth  determines  his  religious  education, 
the  examples  of  religious  life  set  before  him,  the  forms 
of  worship  in  which  as  a  child  he  takes  part.  Most 
men  live  and  die  in  the  religion  of  their  childhood  ;  they 
worship  the  God  of  their  fathers  ;  Romanist  remains 
Romanist :  Protestant  remains  Protestant.  They  may 
fail  to  grasp  any  living  faith,  or  may  lose  all  interest  in 
religion ;  but  such  religion  as  most  men  have  is  part  of 
their  inheritance.  In  the  Israel  of  the  chronicler  faith 
and  devotion  to  God  were  almost  always  and  entirely 
inherited.  They  were  part  of  the  great  debt  which  a 
man  owed  to  his  fathers. 

The  recognition  of  these  facts  should  tend  to  foster 
our  humility  and  reverence,  to  encourage  patriotism  and 
philanthropy.  We  are  the  creatures  and  debtors  of  the 
past,  though  we  are  slow  to  own  our  obligations.  We 
have  nothing  that  we  have  not  received  ;  but  we  are  apt 
to  consider  ourselves  self-made  men,  the  architects  and 
builders  of  our  own  fortunes,  who  have  the  right  to  be 
self-satisfied,  self-assertive,  and  selfish.  The  heir  of 
all  the  ages,  in  the  full  vigour  of  youth,  takes  his  place 

'  iv.  14,  21-23. 


S8  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

in  the  foremost  ranks  of  time,  and  marches  on  in  the 
happy  consciousness  of  profound  and  multifarious 
v/isdom,  immense  resources,  and  magnificent  oppor- 
tunity. He  forgets  or  even  despises  the  generations 
of  labour  and  anguish  that  have  built  up  for  him  his 
great  inheritance.  The  genealogies  are  a  silent  protest 
against  such  insolent  ingratitude.  They  remind  us  that 
in  bygone  days  a  man  derived  his  gifts  and  received 
his  opportunities  from  his  ancestors ;  they  show  us 
men  as  the  links  in  a  chain,  tenants  for  life,  as  it  were, 
of  our  estate,  called  upon  to  pay  back  with  interest  to 
the  future  the  debt  which  they  have  incurred  to  the 
past.  We  see  that  the  chain  is  a  long  one,  with  many 
links ;  and  the  slight  estimate  we  are  inclined  to  put 
upon  the  work  of  individuals  in  each  generation  recoils 
upon  our  own  pride.  We  also  are  but  individuals  of  a 
generation  that  is  only  one  of  the  thousands  needed  to 
work  out  the  Divine  purpose  for  mankind.  We  are 
taught  the  humility  that  springs  from  a  sense  of  obliga- 
tion and  responsibility. 

We  learn  reverence  for  the  workers  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  past,  and  most  of  all  for  God,  We  are 
reminded  of  the  scale  of  the  Divine  working  : — 

"A  thousand  years  in  Thy  sight 
Are  but  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past 
And  as  a  watch  in  the  night," 

A  genealogy  is  a  brief  and  pointed  reminder  that  God 
has  been  working  through  all  the  countless  generations 
behind  us.  The  bare  series  of  names  is  an  expressive 
diagram  of  His  mighty  process.  Each  name  in  the 
earlier  lists  stands  for  a  generation  or  even  for  several 
generations.  The  genealogies  go  back  into  dim,  pre- 
historic  periods;  they   suggest  a  past  too  remote   for 


i.-ix]  HEREDITY  59 

our  imagining.  And  yet  they  take  us  back  to  Adam, 
to  the  very  beginning  of  human  life.  From  that  be- 
ginning, however  many  thousands  or  tens  of  thousands 
of  years  ago,  the  Hfe  of  man  has  been  sacred,  the 
object  of  the  Divine  care  and  love,  the  instrument  of 
the  Divine  purpose. 

Later  on  we  see  the  pedigree  of  our  race  dividing 
into  countless  branches,  all  of  which  are  represented 
in  this  sacred  diagram  of  humanity.  The  Divine 
working  not  only  extends  over  all  time,  but  also  em- 
braces all  the  complicated  circumstances  and  relation- 
ships of  the  families  of  mankind.  These  genealogies 
suggest  a  lesson  probably  not  intended  by  the 
chronicler.  We  recognise  the  unique  character  of  the 
history  of  Israel,  but  in  some  measure  we  discern  in 
this  one  full  and  detailed  narrative  of  the  chosen  people 
a  type  of  the  history  of  every  race.  Others  had  not 
the  election  of  Israel,  but  each  had  its  own  vocation. 
God's  power,  and  wisdom,  and  love  are  manifested  in 
the  history  of  one  chosen  people  on  a  scale  commen- 
surate with  our  limited  faculties,  so  that  we  may  gain 
some  faint  idea  of  the  marvellous  providence  in  all 
history  of  the  Father  from  whom  every  family  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  is  named. 

Another  principle  closely  allied  to  heredity  and 
also  discussed  in  modern  times  is  the  solidarity  of  the 
race.  Humanity  is  supposed  to  possess  something 
akin  to  a  common  consciousness,  personality,  or  in- 
dividuality. Such  a  quality  evidently  becomes  more 
intense  as  we  narrow  its  scope  from  the  race  to  the 
nation,  the  clan,  and  the  family  ;  it  has  its  roots  in 
family  relationships.  Tribal,  national,  humanitarian 
feelings  indicate  that  the  larger  societies  have  taken 
upon    themselves    something   of  the    character  of  the 


6o  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

family.  Thus  the  common  feelings  and  mutual 
sympathies  of  mankind  are  due  ultimately  to  blood 
relationship.  The  genealogies  that  set  forth  family 
histories  are  the  symbols  of  this  brotherhood  or 
solidarity  of  our  race.  The  chart  of  converging  lines 
of  ancestors  in  Israel  carried  men's  minds  back  from 
the  separate  families  to  their  common  ancestor  ;  again, 
the  ancestry  of  ancestors  led  back  to  a  still  earlier 
common  origin,  and  the  process  continued  till  all  the 
lines  met  in  Noah.  Each  stage  of  the  process  enlarged 
the  range  of  every  man's  kinship,  and  broadened 
the  natural  area  of  mutual  help  and  affection.  It  is 
true  that  the  Jews  failed  to  learn  this  larger  lesson 
from  their  genealogies,  but  within  their  own  com- 
munity they  felt  intensely  the  bond  of  kinship  and 
brotherhood.  Modern  patriotism  reproduces  the  strong 
Jewish  national  feeling,  and  our  humanitarianism  is 
beginning  to  extend  it  to  the  whole  world.  By  this 
time  the  facts  of  heredity  have  been  more  carefully 
studied  and  are  better  understood.  If  we  drew  up 
typical  genealogies  now,  they  would  more  fully  and 
accurately  represent  the  mutual  relationships  of  our 
people.  As  far  as  they  go,  the  chronicler's  genealogies 
form  a  clear  and  instructive  diagram  of  the  mutual 
dependence  of  man  on  man  and  family  on  family. 
The  value  of  the  diagram  does  not  require  the  accuracy 
of  the  actual  names  any  more  than  the  validity 
of  Euclid  requires  the  actual  existence  of  triangles 
called  A  B  C,  D  E  F.  These  genealogies  are  in  any 
case  a  true  symbol  of  the  facts  of  family  relations  ; 
but  they  are  drawn,  so  to  speak,  in  one  dimension  onty, 
backwards  and  forwards  in  time.  Yet  the  real  family 
life  exists  in  three  dimensions.  There  are  numerous 
«»ross-relations,   cousinship  of  all  degrees,   as  well    as 


i.-ix.]  HEREDITY  6r 

sonship  and  brotherhood.  A  man  has  not  merely  his 
male  ancestors  in  the  directly  ascending  line — father, 
grandfather,  great-grandfather,  etc. — but  he  has  female 
ancestors  as  well.  By  going  back  three  or  four 
generations  a  man  is  connected  with  an  immense 
number  of  cousins  ;  and  if  the  complete  network  of  ten 
or  fifteen  generations  could  be  worked  out,  it  would 
probably  show  some  blood  bond  throughout  a  whole 
nation.  Thus  the  ancestral  roots  of  a  man's  life 
and  character  have  wide  ramifications  in  the  former 
generations  of  his  people.  The  further  we  go  back 
the  larger  is  the  element  of  ancestry  common  to  the 
different  individuals  of  the  same  community.  The 
chronicler's  genealogies  only  show  us  individuals  as 
links  in  a  set  of  chains.  The  more  complete  genea- 
logical scheme  would  be  better  illustrated  by  the 
ganglia  of  the  nervous  system,  each  of  which  is  con- 
nected by  numerous  nerve  fibres  with  the  other  ganglia. 
The  Church  has  been  compared  to  the  body,  "  which  is 
one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the  members 
of  the  body,  being  many,  are  one  body."  Humanity, 
by  its  natural  kinship,  is  also  such  a  body  ;  the  nation 
is  still  more  truly  "  one  body."  Patriotism  and  humanity 
are  instincts  as  natural  and  as  binding  as  those  of  the 
family ;  and  the  genealogies  express  or  symbolise  the 
wider  family  ties,  that  they  may  commend  the  virtues 
and  enforce  the  duties  that  arise  out  of  these  ties. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  something  may  be  said 
on  one  or  two  special  points.  Women  are  virtually 
ignored  in  these  genealogies,  a  fact  that  rather  indicates 
a  failure  to  recognise  their  influence  than  the  absence 
of  such  influence.  Here  and  there  a  woman  is  men- 
tioned for  some  special  reason.  For  instance,  the 
names  of  Zeruiah  and  Abigail  are  inserted  in  order  to 


62  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

show  that  Joab,  Abishai,  and  Asahel,  together  with 
Amasa,  were  all  cousins  of  David.  The  same  keen 
interest  in  David  leads  the  chronicler  to  record  the 
names  of  his  wives.  It  is  noteworthy  that  of  the  four 
women  who  are  mentioned  in  St.  Matthew's  genealogy 
of  our  Lord  only  two — Tamar  and  Bath-shua  {i.e.,  Bath- 
sheba) — are  mentioned  here.  Probably  St.  Matthew 
was  careful  to  complete  the  list  because  Rahab  and 
Ruth,  like  Tamar  and  possibly  Bath-sheba,  were 
foreigners,  and  their  names  in  the  genealogy  indicated 
a  connection  between  Christ  and  the  Gentiles,  and 
served  to  emphasise  His  mission  to  be  the  Saviour  of 
the  world. 

Again,  much  caution  is  necessary  in  applying  any 
principle -of  heredity.  A  genealogy,  as  we  have  seen, 
suggests  our  dependence  in  many  ways  upon  our 
ancestry.  But  a  man's  relations  to  his  kindred  are 
many  and  comphcated ;  a  quality,  for  instance,  may  be 
latent  for  one  or  more  generations  and  then  reappear, 
so  that  to  all  appearance  a  man  inherits  from  his 
grandfather  or  from  a  more  remote  ancestor  rather  than 
from  his  father  or  mother.  Conversely  the  presence 
of  certain  traits  of  character  in  a  child  does  not  show 
that  any  coiresponding  tendency  has  necessarily  been 
active  in  the  life  of  either  parent.  Neither  must  the 
influence  of  circumstances  be  confounded  with  that  of 
heredity.  Moreover,  very  large  allowance  must  be 
made  for  our  ignorance  of  the  laws  that  govern  the 
human  will,  an  ignorance  that  will  often  baffle  our 
attempts  to  find  in  heredity  any  simple  explanation 
of  men's  characters  and  actions.  Thomas  Fuller  has 
a  quaint  •'  Scripture  observation  "  that  gives  an  im- 
portant practical  application  of  these  principles  : — 
"Lord,  I  find  the  genealogy  of  my  Saviour  strangely 


i.-ix.]  HEREDITY  63 

chequered  with  four  remarkable  changes  in  four 
immediate  generations  : 

**  I.  '  Rehoboam  begat  Abiam' ;  that  is,  a  bad  father 
begat  a  bad  son. 

*'  2.  '  Abiam  begat  Asa ' ;  that  is,  a  bad  father  a  good 
son. 

"3.  'Asa  begat  Jehosaphat ' ;  that  is,  a  good  father 
a  good  son. 

"  4.  *  Jehosaphat  begat  Joram  ' ;  that  is,  a  good  father 
a  bad  son. 

"  I  see,  Lord,  from  hence  that  my  father's  piety  cannot 
be  entailed  ;  that  is  bad  news  for  me.  But  I  see  also 
that  actual  impiety  is  not  always  hereditary  ;  that  is 
good  news  for  my  son." 


CHAPTER    III 
STATISTICS 

STATISTICS  play  an  important  part  in  Chronicles 
and  in  the  Old  Testament  generally.  To  begin 
with,  there  are  the  genealogies  and  other  lists  of  names, 
such  as  the  lists  of  David's  counsellors  and  the  roll 
of  honour  of  his  mighty  men.  The  chronicler  specially 
delights  in  lists  of  names,  and  most  of  all  in  lists  of 
Levitical  choristers.  He  gives  us  lists  of  the  orchestras 
and  choirs  who  performed  when  the  Ark  was  brought 
to  Zion  ^  and  at  Hezekiah's  passover,^  also  a  list  of 
Levites  whom  Jehoshaphat  sent  out  to  teach  in  Judah.^ 
No  doubt  family  pride  was  gratified  when  the  chroni- 
cler's contemporaries  and  friends  read  the  names  of 
their  ancestors  in  connection  with  great  events  in  the 
history  of  their  religion.  Possibly  they  supplied  him 
with  the  information  from  which  these  lists  were 
compiled.  An  incidental  result  of  the  celibacy  of  the 
Romanist  clergy  has  been  to  render  ancient  ecclesias- 
tical genealogies  impossible  ;  modern  clergymen  cannot 
trace  their  descent  to  the  monks  who  landed  with 
Augustine.  Our  genealogies  might  enable  a  historian 
to  construct  lists  of  the  combatants  at  Agincourt  and 
Hastings ;  but  the  Crusades  are  the  only  wars  of  the 

*  I  Chron.  xv.  *  2  Chron.  xvii.  8. 

*  a.  2  Chron.  xxix.  I2  and  xxx.  22. 

64 


STATISTICS  6S 


Church    mihtant    for   which    modern    pedigrees    could 
furnish  a  muster-roll. 

We  find  also  in  the  Old  Testament  the  specifications 
and  subscription-lists  for  the  Tabernacle  and  for 
Solomon's  temple/  These  statistics,  however,  are  not 
furnished  for  the  second  Temple,  probably  for  the  same 
reason  that  in  modern  subscription-lists  the  donors 
of  shillings  and  half-crowns  are  to  be  indicated  by 
initials,  or  described  as  "  friends  "  and  "  sympathisers," 
or  massed  together  under  the  heading  "  smaller  sums." 

The  Old  Testament  is  also  rich  in  census  returns 
and  statements  as  to  the  numbers  of  armies  and  of 
the  divisions  of  which  they  were  composed.  There 
are  the  returns  of  the  census  taken  twice  in  the 
wilderness  and  accounts  of  the  numbers  of  the  different 
families  who  came  from  Babylon  with  Zerubbabel 
and  later  on  with  Ezra ;  there  is  a  census  of  the 
Levites  in  David's  time  according  to  their  several 
families  ^ ;  there  are  the  numbers  of  the  tribal  con- 
tingents that  came  to  Hebron  to  make  David  king,^ 
and  much  similar  information. 

Statistics  therefore  occupy  a  conspicuous  position 
in  the  inspired  record  of  Divine  revelation,  and  yet  we 
often  hesitate  to  connect  such  terms  as  "  inspiration  "  and 
"  revelation  "  with  numbers,  and  names,  and  details  of 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  organisation.  We  are  afraid 
lest  any  stress  laid  on  purely  accidental  details  should 
distract  men's  attention  from  the  eternal  essence  of 
the  Gospel,  lest  any  suggestion  that  the  certainty  of 
Christian  truth  is  dependent  on  the  accuracy  of  these 
statistics  should  become  a  stumbling-block  and  destroy 

'  Exod.  xxv-xxxix. ;  I  Kings  vi. ;  i  Chron.  xxix. ;  2  Chron.  iii.,  v. 
^  I  Chron.  xv.  4-10. 
'  I  Chron.  xii.  23-37. 

5 


66  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

the  faith  of  some.  Concerning  such  matters  there 
have  been  many  foohsh  questions  of  genealogies,  pro- 
fane and  vain  babbhngs,  which  have  increased  unto 
more  ungodliness.  Quite  apart  from  these,  even  in 
the  Old  Testament  a  sanctity  attaches  to  the  number 
seven,  but  there  is  no  warrant  for  any  considerable  ex- 
penditure of  time  and  thought  upon  mystical  arithmetic. 
A  symbolism  runs  through  the  details  of  the  build- 
ing, furniture,  and  ritual  alike  of  the  Tabernacle  and 
the  Temple,  and  this  symbolism  possesses  a  legitimate 
religious  significance  ;  but  its  exposition  is  not  specially 
suggested  by  the  book  of  Chronicles.  The  exposition 
of  such  symbolism  is  not  always  sufficiently  governed 
by  a  sense  of  proportion.  Ingenuity  in  supplying 
subtle  interpretations  of  minute  details  often  conceals 
the  great  truths  which  the  symbols  are  really  intended 
to  enforce.  Moreover,  the  sacred  writers  did  not  give 
statistics  merely  to  furnish  materials  for  Cabbala  and 
Gematria  or  even  to  serve  as  theological  types  and 
symbols.  Sometimes  their  purpose  was  more  simple 
and  practical.  If  we  knew  all  the  history  of  the 
Tabernacle  and  Temple  subscription-lists,  we  should 
doubtless  find  that  they  had  been  used  to  stimulate 
generous  gifts  towards  the  erection  of  the  second 
Temple.  Preachers  for  building  funds  can  find  abun- 
dance of  suitable  texts  in  Exodus,  Kings,  and  Chronicles. 

But  Biblical  statistics  are  also  examples  in  accuracy 
and  thoroughness  of  information,  and  recognitions  of 
the  more  obscure  and  prosaic  manifestations  of  the 
higher  life.  Indeed,  in  these  and  other  ways  the  Bible 
gives  an  anticipatory  sanction  to  the  exact  sciences. 

The  mention  of  accuracy  in  connection  with  Chronicles 
may  be  received  by  some  readers  with  a  contemptuous 
smile.     But  we  are  indebted  to  the  chronicler  faf  exact 


STATISTICS  67 


and  full  information  about  the  Jews  who  returned  from 
Babylon  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  extremely  severe  judg- 
ment passed  upon  Chronicles  by  many  critics,  we  may 
still  venture  to  believe  that  the  chronicler's  statistics 
are  as  accurate  as  his  knowledge  and  critical  training 
rendered  possible.  He  may  sometimes  give  figures 
obtained  by  calculation,  from  uncertain  data,  but  such  a 
practice  is  quite  consistent  with  honesty  and  a  desire 
to  supply  the  best  available  information.  Modern 
scholars  are  quite  ready  to  present  us  with  figures 
as  to  the  membership  of  the  Christian  Church  undei 
Antoninus  Pius  or  Constantine  ;  and  some  of  these 
figures  are  not  much  more  probable  than  the  most 
doubtful  in  Chronicles.  All  that  is  necessary  to  make 
the  chronicler's  statistics  an  example  to  us  is  that  they 
should  be  the  monument  of  a  conscientious  attempt  to 
tell  the  truth,  and  this  they  undoubtedly  are. 

This  Biblical  example  is  the  more  useful  because 
statistics  are  often  evil  spoken  of,  and  they  have  no 
outward  attractiveness  to  shield  them  from  popular 
prejudice.  We  are  told  that  "  nothing  is  so  false  as 
statistics,"  and  that  *'  figures  will  prove  anything  " ;  and 
the  polemic  is  sustained  by  works  like  Hard  Times 
and  the  awful  example  of  Mr.  Gradgrind.  Properly 
understood,  these  proverbs  illustrate  the  very  general 
impatience  of  any  demand  for  exact  thought  and  expres- 
sion.    If  "figures"  will  prove  anything,  so  will  texts. 

Though  this  popular  prejudice  cannot  be  altogether 
ignored,  yet  it  need  not  be  taken  too  seriously.  The 
opposite  principle,  when  stated,  will  at  once  be  seen  to 
be  a  truism.  For  it  amounts  to  this  :  exact  and  com- 
prehensive knowledge  is  the  basis  of  a  right  under- 
standing of  history,  and  is  a  necessary  condition  of 
right  action.     This  principle  is  often  neglected  because 


68  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

it  is  obvious.  Yet,  to  illustrate  it  from  our  author,  a 
knowledge  of  the  size  and  plan  of  the  Temple  greatly 
adds  to  the  vividness  of  our  pictures  of  Hebrew  religion. 
We  apprehend  later  Jewish  life  much  more  clearly 
with  the  aid  of  the  statistics  as  to  the  numbers,  families, 
and  settlements  of  the  returning  exiles  ;  and  similarly 
the  account-books  of  the  bailiff  of  an  English  estate 
in  the  fourteenth  century  are  worth  several  hundred 
pages  of  contemporary  theology.  These  considerations 
may  encourage  those  who  perform  the  thankless  task  of 
compiling  the  statistics,  subscription-lists,  and  balance- 
sheets  of  missionary  and  philanthropic  societies.  The 
zealous  and  intelligent  historian  of  Christian  life  and 
service  will  need  these  dry  records  to  enable  him  to 
understand  his  subject,  and  the  highest  literary  gifts 
may  be  employed  in  the  eloquent  exposition  of  these 
apparently  uninteresting  facts  and  figures.  Moreover, 
upon  the  accuracy  of  these  records  depends  the  possi- 
bility of  determining  a  true  course  for  the  future. 
Neither  societies  nor  individuals,  for  instance,  can 
afford  to  live  beyond  their  income  without  knowing  it. 

Statistics,  too,  are  the  only  form  in  which  many  acts 
of  service  can  be  recognised  and  recorded.  Literature 
can  only  deal  with  typical  instances,  and  naturally  it 
selects  the  more  dramatic.  The  missionary  report  can 
only  tell  the  story  of  a  few  striking  conversions ;  it 
may  give  the  history  of  the  exceptional  self-denial 
involved  in  one  or  two  of  its  subscriptions ;  for  the 
rest  we  must  be  content  with  tables  and  subscription- 
lists.  But  these  dry  statistics  represent  an  infinitude 
of  patience  and  self-denial,  of  work  and  prayer,  of 
Divine  grace  and  blessing.  The  city  missionary  may 
narrate  his  experiences  with  a  few  inquirers  and 
penitents,  but  the  great  bulk  of  his  work  can  only  be 


STATISTICS  69 


recorded  in  the  statement  of  visits  paid  and  services 
conducted.  We  are  tempted  sometimes  to  disparage 
these  statements,  to  ask  how  many  of  the  visits  and 
services  had  any  result ;  we  are  impatient  sometimes 
because  Christian  work  is  estimated  by  any  such 
numerical  line  and  measure.  No  doubt  the  method  has 
many  defects,  and  must  not  be  used  too  mechanically  ; 
but  we  cannot  give  it  up  without  ignoring  altogether 
much  earnest  and  successful  labour. 

Our  chronicler's  interest  in  statistics  lays  healthy 
emphasis  on  the  practical  character  of  religion.  There 
is  a  danger  of  identifying  spiritual  force  with  literary 
and  rhetorical  gifts  ;  to  recognise  the  religious  value 
of  statistics  is  the  most  forcible  protest  against  such 
identification.  The  permanent  contribution  of  any  age 
to  religious  thought  will  naturally  take  a  literary  form, 
and  the  higher  the  literary  qualities  of  religious  writing, 
the  more  likely  it  is  to  survive.  Shakespeare,  Milton, 
and  Bunyan  have  probably  exercised  a  more  powerful 
direct  religious  influence  on  subsequent  generations 
than  all  the  theologians  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
But  the  supreme  service  of  the  Church  in  any  age  is 
its  influence  on  its  own  generation,  by  which  it  moulds 
the  generation  immediately  following.  That  influence 
can  only  be  estimated  by  a  careful  study  of  all  possible 
information,  and  especially  of  statistics.  We  cannot 
assign  mathematical  values  to  spiritual  effects  and 
tabulate  them  like  Board  of  Trade  returns ;  but  real 
spiritual  movements  will  before  long  have  practical 
issues,  that  can  be  heard,  and  seen,  and  felt,  and  even 
admit  of  being  put  into  tables.  "The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  voice  thereof,  but 
knowest  not  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth  "  ^ ; 

'  John  in.  8. 


70  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

and  yet  the  boughs  and  the  corn  bend  before  the  wind, 
and  the  ships  are  earned  across  the  sea  to  their  desired 
haven.  Tables  may  be  drawn  up  of  the  tonnage  and 
the  rate  of  sailing.  So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the 
Spirit.  You  cannot  tell  when  and  how  God  breathes 
upon  the  soul  ;  but  if  the  Divine  Spirit  be  indeed  at 
work  in  any  society,  there  will  be  fewer  crimes  and 
quarrels,  less  scandal,  and  more  deeds  of  charity.  We 
may  justly  suspect  a  revival  which  has  no  effect  upon 
the  statistical  records  of  national  life.  Subscription-lists 
are  very  imperfect  tests  of  enthusiasm,  but  any  wide- 
spread Christian  fervour  would  be  worth  little  if  it  did 
not  swell  subscription-lists. 

Chronicles  is  not  the  most  important  witness  to  a 
sympathetic  relationship  between  the  Bible  and  exact 
science.  The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  the  classic 
example  of  the  appropriation  by  an  inspired  writer  of 
the  scientific  spirit  and  method.  Some  chapters  in  Job 
show  a  distinctly  scientific  interest  in  natural  phenomena. 
Moreover,  the  direct  concern  of  Chronicles  is  in  the 
religious  aspects  of  social  science.  And  yet  there  is  a 
patient  accumulation  of  data  with  no  obvious  dramatic 
value  :  names,  dates,  numbers,  specifications,  and  ritual 
which  do  not  improve  the  literary  character  of  the 
narrative.  This  conscientious  recording  of  dry  facts, 
this  noting  down  of  anything  and  everything  that 
connects  with  the  subject,  is  closely  akin  to  the  initial 
processes  of  the  inductive  sciences.  True,  the 
chronicler's  interests  are  in  some  directions  narrowed 
by  personal  and  professional  feeling ;  but  within  these 
limits  he  is  anxious  to  make  a  complete  record,  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  sometimes  leads  to  repetition.  Now 
inductive  science  is  based  on  unlimited  statistics.  The 
astronomer  and  biologist  share  the  chronicler's  appetite 


STATISTICS  71 


for  this  kind  of  mental  food.  The  Hsts  in  Chronicles 
are  few  and  meagre  compared  to  the  records  of 
Greenwich  Observatory  or  the  volumes  which  contain 
the  data  of  biology  or  sociology ;  but  the  chronicler 
becomes  in  a  certain  sense  the  forerunner  of  Darwin, 
Spencer,  and  Galton.  The  differences  are  indeed 
immense.  The  interval  of  two  thousand  odd  years 
between  the  ancient  annalist  and  the  modern  scientists 
has  not  been  thrown  away.  In  estimating  the  value  of 
evidence  and  interpreting  its  significance,  the  chronicler 
was  a  mere  child  compared  with  his  modern  successors. 
His  aims  and  interests  were  entirely  different  from 
theirs.  But  yet  he  was  moved  by  a  spirit  which  they 
may  be  said  to  inherit.  His  careful  collection  of  facts, 
.even  his  tendency  to  read  the  ideas  and  institutions  of 
his  own  time  into  ancient  history,  are  indications  of  a 
reverence  for  the  past  and  of  an  anxiety  to  base  ideas 
and  action  upon  a  knowledge  of  that  past.  This 
foreshadows  the  reverence  of  modern  science  for  ex- 
perience, its  anxiety  to  base  its  laws  and  theories 
upon  observation  of  what  has  actually  occurred.  The 
principle  that  the  past  determines  and  interprets  the 
present  and  the  future  lies  at  the  root  of  the  theological 
attitude  of  the  most  conservative  minds  and  the 
scientific  work  of  the  most  advanced  thinkers.  The 
conservative  spirit,  like  the  chronicler,  is  apt  to  suffer  its 
inherited  prepossessions  and  personal  interests  to 
hinder  a  true  observation  and  understanding  of  the 
past.  But  the  chronicler's  opportunities  and  experience 
were  narrow  indeed  compared  with  those  of  theological 
students  to-day ;  and  we  have  every  right  to  lay  stress 
on  the  progress  which  he  had  achieved  and  the  onward 
path  that  it  indicated  rather  than  on  the  yet  more 
advanced  stages  which  still  lay  beyond  his  horizon. 


CHAPTER   IV 

FAMILY  TRADITIONS 

I  Chron.  i.  lo,  19,  46;  ii.  3,7,  34;  iv.  9,  10,   18,  22,  27,  34-43; 
V.  10,  18-22;  vii.  21-23;  viii.  13. 

CHRONICLES  is  a  miniature  Old  Testament,  and 
may  have  been  meant  as  a  handbook  for 
ordinary  people,  who  had  no  access  to  the  whole 
library  of  sacred  writings.  It  contains  nothing  corre- 
sponding to  the  books  of  Wisdom  or  the  apocalyptic 
literature ;  but  all  the  other  types  of  Old  Testament 
literature  are  represented.  There  are  genealogies, 
statistics,  ritual,  history,  psalms,  and  prophecies.  The 
interest  shown  by  Chronicles  in  family  traditions  har- 
monises with  the  stress  laid  by  the  Hebrew  Scriptures 
upon  family  life.  The  other  historical  books  are  largely 
occupied  with  the  family  history  of  the  Patriarchs,  of 
Moses,  of  Jephthah,  Gideon,  Samson,  Saul,  and  David. 
The  chronicler  intersperses  his  genealogies  with  short 
anecdotes  about  the  different  families  and  tribes.  Some 
of  these  are  borrowed  from  the  older  books ;  but  others 
are  peculiar  to  our  author,  and  were  doubtless  obtained 
by  him  from  the  family  records  and  traditions  of  his 
contemporaries.  The  statements  that  "  Nimrod  began 
to  be  mighty  upon  the  earth  "  ^;  that  "  the  name  of  one  " 
of  Eber's  sons   "  was  Peleg,   because  in   his  days  the 

'  i.  ic. 

72 


i.]  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  73 

earth  was  divided  "  ^ ;  and  that  Hadad  "  smote  Moab  in 
the  field  of  Midian,"  ^  are  borrowed  from  Genesis.  As 
he  omits  events  much  more  important  and  more  closely 
connected  with  the  history  of  Israel,  and  gives  no 
account  of  Babel,  or  of  Abraham,  or  of  the  conquest  of 
Canaan,  these  little  notes  are  probably  retained  by 
accident,  because  at  times  the  chronicler  copied  his 
authorities  somewhat  mechanically.  It  was  less  trouble 
to  take  the  genealogies  as  they  stood  than  to  exercise 
great  care  in  weeding  out  everything  but  the  bare 
names. 

In  one  instance,^  however,  the  chronicler  has  erased 
a  curious  note  to  a  genealogy  in  Genesis.  A  certain 
Anah  is  mentioned  both  in  Genesis  and  Chronicles 
among  the  Horites,  who  inhabited  Mount  Seir  before 
it  was  conquered  by  Edom.  Most  of  us,  in  reading  the 
Authorised  Version,  have  wondered  what  historical  or 
religious  interest  secured  a  permanent  record  for  the 
fact  that  "  Anah  found  the  mules  in  the  wilderness, 
as  he  fed  the  asses  of  Zibeon  his  father."  A  possible 
solution  seemed  to  be  that  this  note  was  preserved  as 
the  earliest  reference  to  the  existence  of  mules,  which 
animals  played  an  important  part  in  the  social  life  of 
Palestine ;  but  the  Revised  Version  sets  aside  this 
explanation  by  substituting  "hot  springs"  for  "mules," 
and  as  these  hot  springs  are  only  mentioned  here,  the 
passage  becomes  a  greater  puzzle  than  ever.  The 
chronicler  could  hardly  overlook  this  curious  piece  of 
information,  but  he  naturally  felt  that  this  obscure 
archaeological  note  about  the  aboriginal  Horites  did 
not  fall  within   the  scope  of  his  work.     On  the  other 


1  i.  19.  »  i.  46. 

'  Cf.  Gen,  xxxvi.  24  and  i  Chron.  i.  40. 


74  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


hand,  the  tragic  fates  of  Er  and  Achar  ^  had  a  direct 
genealogical  significance.  They  are  referred  to  in 
order  to  explain  why  the  lists  contain  no  descendants 
of  these  members  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  The  notes  to 
these  names  illustrate  the  more  depressing  aspects  of 
history.  The  men  who  lived  happy,  honourable  lives 
can  be  mentioned  one  after  another  without  any  com- 
ment ;  but  even  the  compiler  of  pedigrees  pauses  to 
note  the  crimes  and  misfortunes  that  broke  the  natural 
order  of  life.  The -annals  of  old  families  dv/ell  with 
melancholy  pride  on  murders,  and  fatal  duels,  and 
suicides.  History,  like  an  ancient  mansion,  is  haunted 
with  unhappy  ghosts.  Yet  our  interest  in  tragedy  is 
a  testimony  to  the  blessedness  of  life  ;  comfort  and 
enjoyment  are  too  monotonously  common  to  be  worth 
recording,  but  we  are  attracted  and  excited  by  excep- 
tional instances  of  suffering  and  sin. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  episodes  of  family  life  only  found 
in  Chronicles.  They  may  mostly  be  arranged  in  little 
groups  of  two  or  three,  and  some  of  the  groups  present 
us  with  an  interesting  contrast. 

We  learn  from  ii.  34-41  and  iv.  18  that  two  Jewish 
families  traced  their  descent  from  Egyptian  ancestors. 
Sheshan,  according  to  Chronicles,  was  eighth  in 
descent  from  Judah  and  fifth  from  Jerahmeel,  the 
brother  of  Caleb.  Having  daughters,  but  ho  son,  he 
gave  one  of  his  daughters  in  marriage  to  an  Egyptian 
slave  named  Jarha.  The  descendants  of  this  union  are 
traced  for  thirteen  generations.  Genealogies,  however, 
are  not  always  complete ;  and  our  other  data  do  not 
suffice  to  determine  even  approximately  the  date  of 
this  marriage.  But  the  five  generations  between 
Jerahmeel  and  Sheshan  indicate  a  period  long  after  the 

'  I.e.,  Achan  (ii.  3,  7). 


ii.;iv.]  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  75 


Exodus ;  and  as  Egypt  plays  no  recorded  part  in  the 
history  of  Israel  between  the  Exodus  and  the  reign  of 
Solomon,  the  marriage  may  have  taken  place  under 
the  monarchy.  The  story  is  a  curious  parallel  to  that 
of  Joseph,  with  the  parts  of  Israelite  and  Egyptian 
reversed.  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons ;  it  is  not 
only  when  the  desolate  and  afflicted  in  strange  lands 
belong  to  the  chosen  people  that  Jehovah  reheves 
and  delivers  them.  It  is  true  of  the  Egyptian,  as  well 
as  of  the  Israelite,  that  "  the  Lord  maketh  poor  and 
maketh  rich." 

"  He  bringeth  low,  He  also  lifteth  up ; 
He  raiscth  up  the  poor  out  of  the  dust : 
He  lifteth  up  the  needy  from  the  dunghill, 
To  make  them  sit  with   princes 
And  inherit  the  throne  of  glory."  ' 

This  song  might  have  been  sung  at  Jarha's  wedding 
as  well  as  at  Joseph's. 

Both  these  marriages  throw  a  sidelight  upon  the 
character  of  Eastern  slavery.  They  show  how  sharply 
and  deeply  it  was  divided  from  the  hopeless  degrada- 
tion of  negro  slavery  in  America,  Israelites  did  not 
recognise  distinctions  of  race  and  colour  between  them- 
selves and  their  bondsmen  so  as  to  treat  them  as 
worse  than  pariahs  and  regard  them  with  ph3'-sical 
loathing.  An  American  considers  himself  disgraced  by 
a  slight  taint  of  negro  blood  in  his  ancestry,  but  a  noble 
Jewish  family  was  proud  to  trace  its  descent  from  an 
Egyptian  slave. 

The  other  story  is  somewhat  different,  and  rests 
upon  an  obscure  and  corrupt  passage  in  iv.  i8.  The 
confusion  makes  it  impossible    to  arrive  at    any  date, 

•  I  Sam.  ii.  7,  8. 


76  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

even  by  rough  approximation.  The  genealogical  re- 
lations of  the  actors  are  by  no  means  certain,  but 
some  interesting  points  are  tolerably  clear.  Some  time 
after  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  a  descendant  of  Caleb 
married  two  wives,  one  a  Jewess,  the  other  an 
Egyptian.  The  Egyptian  was  Bithiah,  a  daughter  of 
Pharaoh,  i.e.,  of  the  contemporary  king  of  Egypt.  It 
appears  probable  that  the  inhabitants  of  Eshtemoa 
traced  their  descent  to  this  Egyptian  princess,  while 
those  of  Gedor,  Soco,  and  Zanoa'h  claimed  Mered  as 
their  ancestor  by  his  Jewish  wife.^  Here  again  we 
have  the  bare  outline  of  a  romance,  which  the  imagina- 
tion is  at  liberty  to  fill  in.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
Bithiah  may  have  been  the  victim  of  some  Jewish  raid 
into  Egypt,  but  surely  a  king  of  Egypt  would  have 
either  ransomed  his  daughter  or  recovered  her  by  force 
of  arms.  The  story  rather  suggests  that  the  chiefs 
of  the  clans  of  Judah  were  semi-independent  and 
possessed  of  considerable  wealth  and  power,  so  that 
the  royal  family  of  Egypt  could  intermarry  with  them, 
as  with  reigning  sovereigns.  But  if  so,  the  pride  of 
Egypt  must  have  been  greatly  broken  since  the  time 
when  the  Pharaohs  haughtily  refused  to  give  their 
daughters  in  marriage  to  the  kings  of  Babylon. 

Both  Egyptian  alliances  occur  among  the  Kenizzites, 
the  descendants  of  the  brothers  Caleb  and  Jerahmeel. 
In  one  case  a  Jewess  marries  an  Egyptian  slave  ;  in  the 
other  a  Jew  marries  an  Egyptian  princess.  Doubtless 
these  marriages  did    not  stand  alone,   and  there  were 

'  Vv.  17,  18,  as  they  stand,  do  not  make  sense.  The  second 
sentence  of  ver.  18  should  be  read  before  "  and  she  bare  Miriam"  in 
ver.  17,  Mered  and  Bithiah  formed  a  tempting  subject  for  the  rabbis, 
and  gave  occasion  for  some  of  their  usual  grotesque  fancies.  Mered 
has  been  identified  by  them  both  with  Caleb  and  Moses. 


ii.  ;iv.]  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  "ji 

others  with  foreigners  of  varying  social  rank.  The 
stories  show  that  even  after  the  Captivity  the  tradition 
survived  that  the  clans  in  the  south  of  Judah  had  been 
closely  connected  with  Egypt,  and  that  Solomon  was 
not  the  only  member  of  the  tribe  who  had  taken  an 
Egyptian  wife.  Now  intermarriage  with  foreigners  is 
partly  forbidden  by  the  Pentateuch ;  and  the  prohibition 
was  extended  and  sternly  enforced  by  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah.^  In  the  time  of  the  chronicler  there  was  a  growing 
feeling  against  such  marriages.  Hence  the  traditions  we 
are  discussing  cannot  have  originated  after  the  Return, 
but  must  be  at  any  rate  earlier  than  the  publication  of 
Deuteronomy  under  Josiah. 

Such  marriages  with  Egyptians  must  have  had  some 
influence  on  the  religion  of  the  south  of  Judah,  but 
probably  the  foreigners  usually  followed  the  example  of 
Ruth,  and  adopted  the  faith  of  the  families  into  which 
they  came.  When  they  said,  "  Thy  people  shall  be  my 
people,"  they  did  not  fail  to  add,  "and  thy  God  shall 
be  my  God."  When  the  Egyptian  princess  married 
the  head  of  a  Jewish  clan,  she  became  one  of  Jehovah's 
people ;  and  her  adoption  into  the  family  of  the  God  of 
Israel  was  symbolised  by  a  new  name :  "  Bithiah," 
"daughter  of  Jehovah."  Whether  later  Judaism  owed 
anything  to  Egyptian  influences  can  only  be  matter 
of  conjecture ;  at  any  rate,  they  did  not  pervert  the 
southern  clans  from  their  old  faith.  The  Calebites  and 
Jerahmeelites  were  the  backbone  of  Judah  both  before 
and  after  the  Captivity. 

The  remaining  traditions  relate  to  the  warfare  of  the 
Israelites  with  their  neighbours.  The  first  is  a  colour- 
less reminiscence,  that   might  have    been  recorded    of 

'  Deut.  vii.  3  ;  Josh,  xxiii.  12;  Ezra  ix.  i,  x, ;  Neh.  xiii.  23. 


78  '       THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

the  effectual  prayer  of  an}^  pious  Israelite.  The 
genealogies  of  chap.  iv.  are  interrupted  by  a  paragraph 
entirely  unconnected  with  the  context.  The  subject  of 
this  fragment  is  a  certain  Jabez  never  mentioned  else- 
where, and,  so  far  as  any  record  goes,  as  entirely 
"  without  father,  without  mother,  without  genealogy," 
as  Melchizedek  himself  As  chap.  iv.  deals  with  the 
families  of  Judah,  and  in  ii.  55  there  is  a  town  Jabez 
also  belonging  to  Judah,  we  may  suppose  that  the 
chronicler  had  reasons  for  assigning  Jabez  to  that 
tribe;  but  he  has  neither  given  these  reasons,  nor 
indicated  how  Jabez  was  connected  therewith.  The 
paragraph  runs  as  follows  ^ :  "  And  Jabez  was  honoured 
above  his  brethren,  and  his  mother  called  his  name 
Jabez"  {Ydbe^),  "saying,  In  pain  "  (^o^eb)  "I  bore  him. 
And  Jabez  called  upon  the  God  of  Israel,  saying, — 

'  If  Thou  wilt  indeed  bless  me 

By  enlarging  my  possessions, 
And  Thy  hand  be  with  me 

To  provide  pasture,^  that  I  be  not  in  distress '  (ofeb). 

And  God  brought  about  what  he  asked."  The 
chronicler  has  evidently  inserted  here  a  broken  and 
disconnected  fragment  from  one  of  his  sources  ;  and  we 
are  puzzled  to  understand  why  he  gives  so  much, 
and  no  more.  Surely  not  merely  to  introduce  the 
etymologies  of  Jabez  ;  or  if  Jabez  were  so  important 
that  it  was  worth  while  to  interrupt  the  genealogies  to 
furnish  two  derivations  of  his  name,  why  are  we  not 
told  more  about  him  ?  Who  was  he,  when  and  where 
did  he  live,  and  at  whose  expense  were  his  possessions 

'  iv.  9,  10. 

-'  The  reading  on  which  this  translation  is  based  is  obtained  by  an 
alteration  of  the  vowels  of  the  Masoretic  text ;  cf.  Bertheau,  i.l. 


iv.]  FAMILY  TRADITION^  79 

enlarged  and  pasture  provided  for  him  ?  Everything 
that  could  give  colour  and  interest  to  the  narrative  is 
withheld,  and  we  are  merely  told  that  he  prayed  for 
earthly  blessing  and  obtained  it.  The  spiritual  lesson 
is  obvious,  but  it  is  very  frequently  enforced  and 
illustrated  in  the  Old  Testament.  Why  should  this 
episode  about  an  utterly  unknown  man  be  thrust  by 
main  force  into  an  unsuitable  context,  if  it  is  only  one 
example  of  a  most  familiar  truth  ?  It  has  been  pointed 
out  that  Jacob  vowed  a  similar  vow  and  built  an  altar 
to  El,  the  God  of  Israel  ^ ;  but  this  is  one  of  many 
coincidences.  The  paragraph  certainly  tells  us  some- 
thing about  the  chronicler's  views  on  prayer,  but 
nothing  that  is  not  more  forcibly  stated  and  exemplified 
in  many  other  passages  ;  it  is  mainly  interesting  to  us 
because  of  the  light  it  throws  on  his  methods  of  com- 
position. Elsewhere  he  embodies  portions  of  well- 
known  works  and  apparently  assumes  that  his  readers 
are  sufficiently  versed  in  them  to  be  able  to  understand 
the  point  of  his  extracts.  Probably  Jabez  was  so 
familiar  to  the  chronicler's  immediate  circle  that  he  can 
take  for  granted  that  a  few  lines  will  suffice  to  recall 
all  the  circumstances  to  a  reader. 

We  have  next  a  series  of  much  more  definite 
statements  about  Israelite  prowess  and  success  in  wars 
against  Moab  and  other  enemies. 

In  iv.  21,  22,  we  read,  "  The  sons  of  Shelah  the  son 
of  Judah  :  Er  the  father  of  Lecah,  and  Laadah  the 
father  of  Mareshah,  and  the  families  of  the  house  of 
them  that  wrought  fine  linen,  of  the  house  of  Ashbea ; 
and  Jokim,  and  the  men  of  Cozeba,  and  Joash,  and 
Saraph,  who  had  dominion   in  Moab  and  returned  to 

'  Gen.  xxviii.  20 ;    xxxiii.  20. 


8o  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Bethlehem."  ^  Here  again  the  information  is  too  vague 
to  enable  us  to  fix  any  date,  nor  is  it  quite  certain  who 
had  dominion  in  Moab.  The  verb  "  had  dominion  " 
is  plural  in  Hebrew,  and  may  refer  to  all  or  any  of  the 
sons  of  Shelah.  But,  in  spite  of  uncertainties,  it  is 
interesting  to  find  chiefs  or  clans  of  Judah  ruling  in 
Moab.  Possibly  this  immigration  took  place  when 
David  conquered  and  partly  depopulated  the  country. 
The  men  of  Judah  may  have  returned  to  Bethlehem 
when  Moab  passed  to  the  northern  kingdom  at  the 
disruption,  or  when  Moab  regained  its  independence. 

The  incident  in  iv.  34-43  differs  from  the  preceding 
in  having  a  definite  date  assigned  to  it.  In  the  time  of 
Hezekiah  some  Simeonite  clans  had  largely  increased 
in  number  and  found  themselves  straitened  for  room 
for  their  flocks.  They  accordingly  went  in  search  of 
new  pasturage.  One  company  went  to  Gedor,  another 
to  Mount  Seir. 

The  situation  of  Gedor  is  not  clearly  known.  It  can- 
not be  the  Gedor  of  Josh.  xv.  58,  which  lay  in  the 
heart  of  Judah.  The  LXX.  has  Gerar,  a  town  to  the 
south  of  Gaza,  and  this  may  be  the  right  reading ;  but 
whether  we  read  Gedor  or  Gerar,  the  scene  of  the 
invasion  will  be  in  the  country  south  of  Judah.  Here 
the  children  of  Simeon  found  what  they  wanted,  "  fat 
pasture,  and  good,"  and  abundant,  for  "  the  land  was 
wide."  There  was  the  additional  advantage  that  the 
inhabitants  were  harmless  and  inoffensive  and  fell  an 
easy  prey  to  their  invaders  :  "  The  land  was  quiet  and 
peaceable,  for  they  that  dwelt  there  aforetime  were  of 
Ham."  As  Ham  in  the  genealogies  is  the  father  of 
Cainan,  these  peaceable  folk  would  be  Cainanites ;  and 

'  This  translation  is  obtained  by  slightly  altering  the  Masoretic 
text. 


iv.]  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  8i 

among  them  were  a  people  called  Meunim,  probably 
not  connected  with  any  of  the  Maons  mentioned  in 
the  Old  Testament,  but  with  some  other  town  or  dis- 
trict of  the  same  name.  So  "  these  written  by  name 
came  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  king  of  Judah,  and 
smote  their  tents,  and  the  Meunim  that  were  found 
there,  and  devoted  them  to  destruction  as  accursed, 
so  that  none  are  left  unto  this  day.  And  the  Simeon- 
ites  dwelt  in  their  stead."  ^ 

Then  follows  in  the  simplest  and  most  unconscious 
way  the  only  justification  that  is  offered  for  the  be- 
haviour of  the  invaders :  "  because  there  was  pasture 
there  for  their  flocks."  The  narrative  takes  for 
granted — 

"  The  good  old  rule,  the  simple  plan, 

That  they  should  take  who  have  the  power, 
And  they  should  keep  whe  can." 

The  expedition  to  Mount  Seir  appears  to  have  been 
a  sequel  to  the  attack  on  Gedor.  Five  hundred  of  the 
victors  emigrated  into  Edom,  and  smote  the  remnant 
of  the  Amalekites  who  had  survived  the  massacre 
under  Saul^;  "and  they  also  dwelt  there  unto  this 
day." 

In  substance,  style,  and  ideas  this  passage  closely 
resembles  the  books  of  Joshua  and  Judges,  where  the 
phrase  "unto  this  day"  frequently  occurs.  Here,  of 
course,  the  "  day "  in  question  is  the  time  of  the 
chronicler's  authority.  When  Chronicles  was  written 
the  Simeonites  in  Gedor  and  Mount  Seir  had  long  ago 
shared  the  fate  of  their  victims. 

The  conquest  of  Gedor  reminds  us  how  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Israelite  occupation  of  Palestine   "Judah 

'  iv.  41 ;  cf.  R.V.  ^  I  Sam.  xv. 


82  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

went  with  Simeon  his  brother  into  the  same  southern 
lands,"  and  they  smote  the  Canaanites  that  inhabited 
Zephath,  and  devoted  them  to  destruction  as  accursed  ^ ; 
and  how  the  house  of  Joseph  took  Bethel  by  treachery.'-^ 
But  the  closest  parallel  is  the  Danite  conquest  of 
Laish.^  The  Danite  spies  said  that  the  people  of  Laish 
"dwelt  in  security,  after  the  manner  of  the  Zidonians, 
quiet  and  secure,"  harmless  and  inoffensive,  like  the 
Gedorites.  Nor  were  they  likely  to  receive  succour 
from  the  powerful  city  of  Zidon  or  from  other  allies, 
for  "they  were  far  from  the  Zidonians,  and  had  no 
dealings  with  any  man."  Accordingly,  having  observed 
the  prosperous  but  defenceless  position  of  this  peaceable 
people,  they  returned  and  reported  to  their  brethren, 
"  Arise,  and  let  us  go  up  against  them,  for  we  have 
seen  the  land,  and,  behold,  it  is  very  good ;  and  are  ye 
still  ?  Be  not  slothful  to  go  and  to  enter  in  to  possess 
the  land.  When  ye  go,  ye  shall  come  unto  a  people 
secure,  and  the  land,"  like  that  of  Gedor,  "is  large, 
for  God  hath  given  it  into  your  hand,  a  place  where 
there  is  no  want  of  anything  that  is  in  the  earth." 

The  moral  of  these  incidents  is  obvious.  When 
a  prosperous  people  is  peaceable  and  defenceless,  it 
is  a  clear  sign  that  God  has  delivered  them  into  the 
hand  of  any  warlike  and  enterprising  nation  that 
knows  how  to  use  its  opportunities.  The  chronicler, 
however,  is  not  responsible  for  this  morality,  but  he 
does  not  feel  compelled  to  make  any  protest  against 
the  ethical  views  of  his  source.  There  is  a  refresh- 
ing frankness  about  these  ancient  narratives.  The  wolf 
devours  the  lamb  without  inventing  any  flimsy  pretext 
about  troubled  waters. 

'  Judges  i.  17.  "  Judges  i.  22-26. 

^  Judges  xviii. 


iv.J  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  83 

But  in  criticising  these  Hebrew  clans  who  Hvjed  in 
the  dawn  of  history  and  rehgion  we  condemn  ourselves. 
If  we  make  adequate  allowance  for  the  influence  of 
Christ,  and  the  New  Testament,  and  centuries  of  Chris- 
tian teaching,  Simeon  and  Dan  do  not  compare 
unfavourably  Vv^ith  modern  nations.  As  we  review  the 
wars  of  Christendom,  we  shall  often  be  puzzled  to  find 
any  ground  for  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  other  than 
the  defencelessness  of  the  weaker  combatant.  The 
Spanish  conquest  of  America  and  the  English  conquest 
of  India  afford  examples  of  the  treatment  of  weaker 
races  which  fairly  rank  with  those  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Even  to-day  the  independence  of  the  smaller  European 
states  is  mainly  guaranteed  by  the  jealousies  of  the 
Great  Powers.  Still  there  has  been  progress  in  inter- 
national morality ;  we  have  got  at  last  to  the  stage 
of  iEsop's  fable.  Public  opinion  condemns  wanton 
aggression  against  a  weak  state ;  and  the  stronger 
power  employs  the  resources  of  civilised  diplomacy  in 
showing  that  not  only  the  absent,  but  also  the  helpless, 
are  always  wrong.  There  has  also  been  a  substantial 
advance  in  humanity  towards  conquered  peoples. 
Christian  warfare  even  since  the  Middle  Ages  has  been 
stained  with  the  horrors  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  and 
many  other  barbarities ;  the  treatment  of  the  American 
Indians  by  settlers  has  often  been  cruel  and  unjust ; 
but  no  civilised  nation  would  now  systematically 
massacre  men,  women,  and  children  in  cold  blood. 
We  are  thankful  for  any  progress  towards  better  things, 
but  we  cannot  feel  that  men  have  yet  realised  that 
Christ  has  a  message  for  nations  as  well  as  for  indivi- 
duals. As  His  disciples  we  can  only  pray  more  earnestly 
that  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  may  in  deed  and  truth 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ. 


84  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

The  next  incident  is  more  honourable  to  the  IsraeHtes. 
"  The  sons  of  Reuben,  and  the  Gadites,  and  the  half- 
tribe  of  Manasseh  "  did  not  merely  surprise  and  slaughter 
quiet  and  peaceable  people  :  they  conquered  formidable 
enemies  in  fair  fight. ^  There  are  two  separate  accounts 
of  a  war  with  the  Hagrites,  one  appended  to  the 
genealogy  of  Reuben  and  one  to  that  of  Gad.  The 
former  is  very  brief  and  general,  comprising  nothing 
but  a  bare  statement  that  there  was  a  successful  war 
and  a  consequent  appropriation  of  territory.  Probably 
the  two  paragraphs  are  different  forms  of  the  same 
narrative,  derived  by  the  chronicler  from  independent 
sources.  We  may  therefore  confine  our  attention  to 
the  more  detailed  account. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  these  Transjordanie  tribes  are 
spoken  of  as  "  valiant^  men,"  "  men  able  to  bear  buckler 
and  sword  and  to  shoot  with  the  bow,  and  skilful  in 
war."  Their  numbers  were  considerable.  While  five 
hundred  Simeonites  were  enough  to  destroy  the 
Amalekites  on  Mount  Seir,  these  eastern  tribes  mustered 
"  forty  and  four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  threescore 
that  were  able  to  go  forth  to  war,"  Their  enemies  were 
not  *'  quiet  and  peacisable  people,"  but  the  wild  Bedouin 
of  the  desert,  "  the  Hagrites,  with  Jetur  and  Naphish 
and  Nodab."  Nodab  is  mentioned  only  here ;  Jetur 
and  Naphish  occur  together  in  the  lists  of  the  sons  of 
Ishmael.^  Itursea  probably  derived  its  name  from  the 
tribe  of  Jetur.  The  Hagrites  or  Hagarenes  were  Arabs 
closely  connected  with  the  Ishmaelites,  and  they  seem 
to   have    taken    their    name    from    Hagar.     In    Psalm 


'  Vv.  7-10,  .18-22. 

^  Deut.  xxxiii.  20;   I  Chron.  xii.  8,  21. 
"  Gen.  XXV.  15. 


v.]  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  85 

Ixxxiii.  6—8  we  find  a  similar  confederacy  on  a  larger 
scale : — 

"The  tents  of  Edom  and  the  Ishmaelites, 
Moab  and  the  Hagarenes, 
Gebal  and  Ammon  and  Amalek, 
Philistia  with  the  inhabitants  of  Tyre, 
Assyria  also  is  joined  with  them  ; 
They  have  holpen  the  children  of  Lot." 

There  could  be  no  question  of  unprovoked  aggres- 
sion against  these  children  of  Ishmael,  that  "  wild  ass 
of  a  man,  whose  hand  was  against  every  man,  and 
every  man's  hand  against  him."  ^  The  narrative  implies 
that  the  Israelites  were  the  aggressors,  but  to  attack 
the  robber  tribes  of  the  desert  would  be  as  much  an 
act  of  self-defence  as  to  destroy  a  hornet's  nest.  We 
may  be  quite  sure  that  when  Reuben  and  Gad  marched 
eastward  they  had  heavy  losses  to  retrieve  and  bitter 
wrongs  to  avenge.  We  might  find  a  parallel  in  the 
campaigns  by  which  robber  tribes  are  punished  for 
their  raids  within  our  Indian  frontier,  only  we  must 
remember  that  Reuben  and  Gad  were  not  very  much 
more  law-abiding  or  unselfish  than  their  Arab  neigh- 
bours. They  were  not  engaged  in  maintaining  a  pax 
Britannica  for  the  benefit  of  subject  nations ;  they 
were  carrying  on  a  struggle  for  existence  with  persis- 
tent and  relentless  foes.  Another  partial  parallel  would 
be  the  border  feuds  on  the  Northumbrian  marches, 
when — 

"...  over  border,  dale,  and  fell 
Full  wide  and  far  was  terror  spread  ; 
For  pathless  marsh  and  mountain  cell 
The  peasant  left  his  lowly  shed  : 
The  frightened  flocks  and  herds  were  pent 
Beneath  the  peel's  rude  battlement, 

'  Gen.  xvi.  12. 


86  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

And  maids  and  matrons  dropped  the  tear 
While  ready  warriors  seized  the  spear ; 

the  watchman's  eye 

Dun  wreaths  of  distant  smoke  can  spy."  ' 

But  the  Israelite  expedition  was  on  a  larger  scale 
than  any  "  warden  raid,"  and  Eastern  passions  are 
fiercer  and  shriller  than  those  sung  by  the  Last 
Minstrel :  the  maids  and  matrons  of  the  desert  would 
shriek  and  wail  instead  of  "  dropping  a  tear." 

In  this  great  raid  of  ancient  times  "  the  war  was  of 
God,"  not,  as  at  Laish,  because  God  found  for  them 
helpless  and  easy  victims,  but  because  He  helped  them 
in  a  desperate  struggle.  When  the  fierce  Israelite  and 
Arab  borderers  joined  battle,  the  issue  v/as  at  first 
doubtful ;  and  then  **  they  cried  to  God,  and  He  was 
entreated  of  them,  because  they  put  their  trust  in  Him," 
"  and  they  were  helped  against "  their  enemies  ;  "  and 
the  Hagrites  were  delivered  into  their  hand,  and  all  that 
were  with  them,  and  there  fell  many  slain,  because  the 
war  was  of  God  "  ;  ''  and  they  took  away  their  cattle  : 
of  their  camels  fifty  thousand,  and  of  sheep  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand,  and  of  asses  two  thousand,  and  of 
slaves  a  hundred  thousand."  "  And  they  dwelt  in 
their  stead  until  the  captivity." 

This  "  captivity "  is  the  subject  of  another  short 
note.  The  chronicler  apparently  was  anxious  to  dis- 
tribute his  historical  narratives  equally  among  the 
tribes.  The  genealogies  of  Reuben  and  Gad  each  con- 
clude v/ith  a  notice  of  a  war,  and  a  similar  account 
follows  that  of  Eastern  Manasseh  : — "  And  they  tres- 
passed against  the  God  of  their  fathers,  and  went 
a-whoring  after  the  gods  of  the  peoples  of  the  land, 
whom   God  destroyed  before  them.     And  the  God  of 

'  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  iv.  3, 


v.;vii.]  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  87 

Israel  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Pul,  king  of  Assyria,  and 
the  spirit  of  Tilgath-pilneser,  king  of  Assyria,  and 
he  carried  them  away,  even  the  Reubenites,  and  the 
Gadites,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  and  brought 
them  unto  Halah,  and  Habor,  and  Hara,  and  to  the 
river  of  Gozan,  unto  this  day."^  And  this  war  also 
was  "  of  God."  Doubtless  the  descendants  of  the 
surviving  Hagrites  and  Ishmaelites  were  among  the 
allies  of  the  Assyrian  king,  and  saw  in  the  ruin  of 
Eastern  Israel  a  retribution  for  the  sufferings  of  their 
own  people ;  but  the  later  Jews  and  probably  the 
exiles  in  "  Halah,  Habor,  and  Hara,"  and  by  "  the 
river  of  Gozan,"  far  away  in  North-eastern  Mesopotamia, 
found  the  cause  of  their  sufferings  in  too  great  an 
intimacy  with  their  heathen  neighbours  :  they  had 
gone  a-whoring  after  their  gods. 

The  last  two  incidents  which  we  shall  deal  with  in 
this  chapter  serve  to  illustrate  afresh  the  rough-and- 
ready  methods  by  which  the  chronicler  has  knotted 
together  threads  of  heterogeneous  tradition  into  one 
tangled  skein.  We  shall  see  further  how  ready  ancient 
writers  were  to  represent  a  tribe  by  the  ancestor  from 
whom  it  traced  its  descent.  We  read  in  vii.  20,  21, 
"  The  sons  of  Ephraim  :  Shuthelah,  and  Bered  his  son, 
and  Tahath  his  son,  and  Eleadah  his  son,  and  Zabad 
his  son,  and  Shuthelah  his  son,  and  Ezer  and  Elead, 
whom  the  men  of  Gath  that  were  born  in  the  land 
slew,  because  they  came  down  to  take  away  their  cattle." 

Ezer  and  Elead  are  apparently  brothers  of  the  second 
Shuthelah ;  at  any  rate,  as  six  generations  are  men- 
tioned between  them  and  Ephraim,  they  would  seem 
to  have  lived  long  after  the  Patriarch.     Moreover,  they 

'  Vv.  25,  26.  Note  the  curious  spelling  Tilgath-pilneser  for  the 
more  usual  Tiglath-pileser. 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


came  down  to  Gath,  so  that  they  must  have  Hved  in 
some  hill-country  not  far  off,  presumably  the  hill- 
country  of  Ephraim.  But  in  the  next  two  verses  (22 
and  23)  we  read,  "  And  Ephraim  their  father  mourned 
many  days,  and  his  brethren  came  to  comfort  him. 
And  he  went  in  to  his  wife,  and  she  conceived,  and  bare 
a  son ;  and  he  called  his  name  Beriah,  because  it  went 
evil  with  his  house." 

Taking  these  words  literally,  Ezer  and  Elead  were 
the  actual  sons  of  Ephraim  ;  and  as  Ephraim  and  his 
family  were  born  in  Egypt  and  lived  there  all  their  days, 
these  patriarchal  cattle-lifters  did  not  come  down  from 
any  neighbouring  highlands,  but  must  have  come  up 
from  Egypt,  all  the  way  from  the  land  of  Goshen, 
across  the  desert  and  past  several  Philistine  and 
Canaanite  towns.  This  literal  sense  is  simply  im- 
possible. The  author  from  whom  the  chronicler 
borrowed  this  narrative  is  clearly  using  a  natural  and 
beautiful  figure  to  describe  the  distress  in  the  tribe  of 
Ephraim  when  two  of  its  clans  were  cut  off,  and  the 
fact  that  a  new  clan  named  Beriah  was  formed  to  take 
their  place.  Possibly  we  are  not  without  information 
as  to  how  this  new  clan  arose.  In  viii.  13  we  read  of 
two  Benjamites,  ^^  Beriah  and  Shema,  who  were  heads 
of  fathers'  houses  of  the  inhabitants  of  Aijalon,  who 
put  to  flight  the  inhabitants  of  Gath."  Beriah  and 
Shema  probably,  coming  to  the  aid  of  Ephraim,  avenged 
the  defeat  of  Ezer  and  Elead  ;  and  in  return  received 
the  possessions  of  the  clans,  who  had  been  cut  off, 
and  Beriah  was  thus  reckoned  among  the  children  of 
Ephraim.^ 

The  language  of  ver.  22  is  very  similar  to  that  of 
Gen.  xxxvii.  34,  35  :  "And  Jacob  mourned  for  his  son 

'  Cf.  Bertheau,  i.l. 


vii.  ;viii.]  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  89 

many  days.  And  all  his  sons  and  all  his  daughters 
rose  up  to  comfort  him  "  ;  and  the  personification  of 
the  tribe  under  the  name  of  its  ancestor  may  be 
paralleled  from  Judges  xxi.  6 :  "  And  the  children  of 
Israel  repented  them  for  Benjamin  their  brother." 

Let  us  now  reconstruct  the  story  and  consider  its 
significance.  Two  Ephraimite  clans,  Ezer  and  Elead, 
set  out  to  drive  the  cattle  "  of  the  men  of  Gath,  who 
were  born  in  the  land,"  i.e.,  of  the  aboriginal  Avvites, 
who  had  been  dispossessed  by  the  Philistines,  but  still 
retained  some  of  the  pasture-lands.  Falling  into  an 
ambush  or  taken  by  surprise  when  encumbered  with 
their  plunder,  the  Ephraimites  were  cut  off",  and  nearly 
all  the  fighting  men  of  the  clans  perished.  The  Avvites, 
reinforced  by  the  Philistines  of  Gath,  pressed  their 
advantage,  and  invaded  the  territory  of  Ephraim,  whose 
border  districts,  stripped  of  their  defenders,  lay  at  the 
mercy  of  the  conquerors.  From  this  danger  they  were 
rescued  by  the  Benjamite  clans  Shema  and  Beriah, 
then  occupying  Aijalon  ^ ;  and  the  men  of  Gath  in 
their  turn  were  defeated  and  driven  back.  The  grate- 
ful Ephraimites  invited  their  allies  to  occupy  the  vacant 
territory  and  in  all  probability  to  marry  the  widows 
and  daughters  of  their  slaughtered  kinsmen.  From 
that  time  onwards  Beriah  was  reckoned  as  one  of  the 
clans  of  Ephraim. 

The  account  of  this  memorable  cattle  foray  is  a 
necessary  note  to  the  genealogies  to  explain  the 
origin  of  an  important  clan  and  its  double  connection 

-  '  In  Josh.  xix.  42,  xxi.  24,  Aijalon  is  given  to  Dan  ;  in  Judges  i.  34 
it  is  given  to  Dan,  but  we  are  told  that  Amorites  retained  possession 
of  it,  but  became  tributary  to  the  house  of  Joseph  ;  in  2  Chron. 
xi.  10  it  is  given  to  "  Judah  and  Benjamin."  As  a  frontier  town,  it 
frequently  changed  hands. 


90  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

with  Ephraim  and  Benjamin.  Both  the  chronicler  and 
his  authority  recorded  it  because  of  its  genealogical 
significance,  not  because  they  were  anxious  to  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  the  unfortunate  raid.  In  the 
ancient  days  to  which  the  episode  belonged,  a  frontier 
cattle  foray  seemed  as  natural  and  meritorious  an  enter- 
prise as  it  did  to  William  of  Deloraine.  The  chronicler 
does  not  think  it  necessary  to  signify  any  disapproval — 
it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  he  did  disapprove — of  such 
spoiling  of  the  uncircumcised  ;  but  the  fact  that  he  gives 
the  record  without  comment  does  not  show  that  he 
condoned  cattle-stealing.  Men  to-day  relate  with  pride 
the  lawless  deeds  of  noble  ancestors,  but  they  would 
be  dismayed  if  their  own  sons  proposed  to  adopt  the 
moral  .  code  of  mediaeval  barons  or  Elizabethan 
buccaneers. 

In  reviewing  the  scanty  religious  ideas  involved  in 
this  little  group  of  family  traditions,  we  have  to 
remember  that  they  belong  to  a  period  of  Israelite 
history  much  older  than  that  of  the  chronicler ;  in 
estimating  their  value,  we  have  to  make  large  allowance 
for  the  conventional  ethics  of  the  times.  Religion  not 
only  serves  to  raise  the  standard  of  morality,  but  also 
to  keep  the  average  man  up  to  the  conventional 
standard ;  it  helps  and  encourages  him  to  do  what  he 
believes  to  be  right  as  well  as  gives  him  a  better  under- 
standing of  what  right  means.  Primitive  religion  is 
not  to  be  disparaged  because  it  did  not  at  once  con- 
vert the  rough  Israelite  clansmen  into  Havelocks.and 
Gordons.  In  those  early  days,  courage,  patriotism, 
and  loyalty  to  one's  tribesmen  were  the  most  necessary 
and  approved  virtues.  They  were  fostered  and  stimu- 
lated by  the  current  belief  in  a  God  of  battles,  who 
gave    victory   to    His    faithful    people.     Moreover,  the 


vii.  ;viii.J  FAMILY  TRADITIONS  91 

idea  of  Deity  implied  in  these  traditions,  though  inade- 
quate, is  by  no  means  unworthy.  God  is  benevolent ; 
He  enriches  and  succours  His  people ;  He  answers 
prayer,  giving  to  Jabez  the  land  and  pasture  for  which 
he  asked.  He  is  a  righteous  God ;  He  responds  to 
and  justifies  His  people's  faith  :  "  He  was  entreated  of 
the  Reubenites  and  Gadites  because  they  put  their 
trust  in  Him."  On  the  other  hand,  He  is  a  jealous 
God ;  He  punishes  Israel  when  "  they  trespass  against 
the  God  of  their  fathers  and  go  a-whoring  after  the 
gods  of  the  peoples  of  the  land."  But  the  feeling  here 
attributed  to  Jehovah  is  not  merely  one  of  personal 
jealousy.  Loyalty  to  Him  meant  a  great  deal  more 
than  a  preference  for  a  god  called  Jehovah  over  a  god 
called  Chemosh.  It  involved  a  special  recognition  of 
morality  and  purity,  and  gave  a  religious  sanction  to 
patriotism  and  the  sentiment  of  national  unity.  Wor- 
ship of  Moabite  or  Syrian  gods  weakened  a  man's 
enthusiasm  for  Israel  and  his  sense  of  fellowship  with 
his  countrymen,  just  as  allegiance  to  an  Italian  prince 
and  prelate  has  seemed  to  Protestants  to  deprive  the 
Romanist  of  his  full  inheritance  in  English  life  and 
feeling.  He  who  went  astray  after  other  gods  did  not 
merely  indulge  his  individual  taste  in  doctrine  and 
ritual  :  he  was  a  traitor  to  the  social  order,  to  the 
prosperity  and  national  union,  of  Israel.  Such  dis- 
loyalty broke  up  the  nation,  and  sent  Israel  and  Judah 
into  captivity  piecemeal. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  JEWISH  COMMUNITY  IN   THE    TIME   OF   THE 
CHRONICLER 

WE  have  already  referred  to  the  light  thrown  by 
Chronicles  on  this  subject.  Besides  the  direct 
information  given  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  and  some- 
times in  Chronicles  itself,  the  chronicler  by  describing 
the  past  in  terms  of  the  present  often  unconsciously 
helps  us  to  reconstruct  the  picture  of  his  own  day. 
We  shall  have  to  make  occasional  reference  to  the 
books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  but  the  age  of  the 
chronicler  is  later  than  the  events  which  they  describe, 
and  we  shall  be  traversing  different  ground  from  that 
covered  by  the  volume  of  the  **  Expositor's  Bible  "  which 
deals  with  them. 

Chronicles  is  full  of  evidence  that  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  system  of  the  Pentateuch  had  become 
fully  established  long  before  the  chronicler  wrote.  Its 
gradual  origin  had  been  forgotten,  and  it  was  assumed 
that  the  Law  in  its  final  and  complete  form  had  been 
known  and  observed  from  the  time  of  David  onwards. 
At  every  stage  of  the  history  Levites  are  introduced, 
occupying  the  subordinate  position  and  discharging 
the  menial  duties  assigned  to  them  by  the  latest  docu- 
ments of  the  Pentateuch.     In  other  matters  small  and 

92 


THE   CHRONICLERS  CONTEMPORARIES.  93 

great,  especially  those  concerning  the  Temple  and  its 
sanctity,  the  chronicler  shows  himself  so  familiar  with 
the  Law  that  he  could  not  imagine  Israel  without  it. 
Picture  the  life  of  Judah  as  we  find  it  in  2  Kings  and 
the  prophecies  of  the  eighth  century,  put  this  picture 
side  by  side  with  another  of  the  Judaism  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  remember  that  Chronicles  is  about 
a  century  nearer  to  the  latter  than  to  the  former.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  effect  of  this  absorption  in 
the  system  of  the  Pentateuch.  The  community  in  and 
about  Jerusalem  had  become  a  Church,  and  was  in 
possession  of  a  Bible.  But  the  hardening,  despiritual- 
ising  processes  which  created  later  Judaism  were 
already  at  work.  A  building,  a  system  of  ritual,  and 
a  set  of  officials  were  coming  to  be  regarded  as  the 
essential  elements  of  the  Church.  The  Bible  was 
important  partly  because  it  dealt  with  these  essential 
elements,  partly  because  it  provided  a  series  of  regula- 
tions about  washings  and  meats,  and  thus  enabled  the 
layman  to  exalt  his  everyday  life  into  a  round  of  cere- 
monial observances.  The  habit  of  using  the  Pentateuch 
chiefly  as  a  handbook  of  external  and  technical  ritual 
seriously  influenced  the  current  interpretation  of  the 
Bible.  It  naturally  led  to  a  hard  literalism  and  a 
disingenuous  exegesis.  This  interest  in  externals  is 
patent  enough  in  the  chronicler,  and  the  tendencies  of 
Biblical  exegesis  are  illustrated  by  his  use  of  Samuel 
and  Kings.  On  the  other  hand,  we  must  allow  for 
great  development  of  this  process  in  the  interval 
between  Chronicles  and  the  New  Testament.  The 
evils  of  later  Judaism  were  yet  far  from  mature,  and 
religious  life  and  thought  in  Palestine  were  still  much 
more  elastic  than  they  became  later  on. 

We   have  also  to  remember  that  at  this  period  the 


94  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

zealous  observers  of  the  Law  can  only  have  formed  a 
portion  of  the  community,  corresponding  roughly  to  the 
regular  attendants  at  public  w^orship  in  a  Christian 
country.  Beyond  and  beneath  the  pious  legalists  were 
"  the  people  of  the  land,"  those  who  were  too  careless 
or  too  busy  to  attend  to  ceremonial  ;  but  for  both 
classes  the  popular  and  prominent  ideal  of  religion  was 
made  up  of  a  magnificent  building,  a  dignified  and 
wealthy  clergy,  and  an  elaborate  ritual,  alike  for  great 
public  functions  and  for  the  minutiae  of  daily  life. 

Besides  all  these  the  Jewish  community  had  its 
sacred  writings.  As  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  Temple, 
and,  moreover,  both  a  student  of  the  national  literature 
and  himself  an  author,  the  chronicler  represents  the 
best  literary  knowledge  of  contemporary  Palestinian 
Judaism  ;  and  his  somewhat  mechanical  methods  of 
composition  make  it  easy  for  us  to  discern  his  indebted- 
ness to  older  writers.  We  turn  his  pages  with  interest 
to  learn  what  books  were  known  and  read  by  the  most 
cultured  Jews  of  his  time.  First  and  foremost,  and 
overshadowing  all  the  rest,  there  appears  the  Penta- 
teuch. Then  there  is  the  whole  array  of  earlier  His- 
torical Books  :  Joshua,  Ruth,  Samuel,  and  Kings.  The 
plan  of  Chronicles  excludes  a  direct  use  of  Judges,  but 
it  must  have  been  well  known  to  our  author.  His 
appreciation  of  the  Psalms  is  shown  by  his  inserting 
in  his  history  of  David  a  cento  of  passages  from 
Psalms  xcvi.,  cv.,  and  cvi. ;  on  the  other  hand,  Psalm 
xviii.  and  other  lyrics  given  in  the  books  of  Samuel 
are  omitted  by  the  chronicler.  The  later  Exilic  Psalms 
were  more  to  his  taste  than  ancient  hymns,  and 
he  unconsciously  carries  back  into  the  history  of  the 
monarchy  the  poetry  as  well  as  the  ritual  of  later 
times.     Both  omissions  and  insertions  indicate  that  in 


THE  CHRONICLERS  CONTEMPORARIES.  95 

this  period  the  Jews  possessed  and  prized  a  large 
collection  of  psalms. 

There  are  also  traces  of  the  Prophets.  Hanani  the 
seer  in  his  address  to  Asa  ^  quotes  Zech.  iv.  lo:  "The 
eyes  of  the  Lord,  which  run  to  and  fro  through  the 
whole  earth."  Jehoshaphat's  exhortation  to  his  people, 
"  Believe  in  the  Lord  your  God  ;  so  shall  ye  be  estab- 
lished,"^ is  based  on  Isa.  vii.  9  :  "  If  ye  will  not  believe, 
surely  ye  shall  not  be  established."  Hezekiah's  words 
to  the  Levites,  "Our  fathers  .  .  .  have  turned  away 
their  faces  from  the  habitation  of  the  Lord,  and  turned 
their  backs,"  ^  are  a  significant  variation  of  Jer.  ii. 
27  :  "  They  have  turned  their  back  unto  Me,  and  not 
their  face."     The  Temple  is  substituted  for  Jehovah. 

There  are  of  course  references  to  Isaiah  and  Jere- 
miah and  traces  of  other  prophets  ;  but  when  account 
is  taken  of  them  all,  it  is  seen  that  the  chronicler  makes 
scanty  use,  on  the  whole,  of  the  Prophetical  Books.  It 
is  true  that  the  idea  of  illustrating  and  supplementing 
information  derived  from  annals  by  means  of  con- 
temporary literature  not  in  narrative  form  had  not  yet 
dawned  upon  historians  ;  but  if  the  chronicler  had  taken 
a  tithe  of  the  interest  in  the  Prophets  that  he  took  in 
the  Pentateuch  and  the  Psalms,  his  work  would  show 
many  more  distinct  marks  of  their  influence. 

An  apocalypse  like  Daniel  and  works  like  Job, 
Proverbs,  and  the  other  books  of  Wisdom  lay  so  far 
outside  the  plan  and  subject  of  Chronicles  that  we  can 
scarcely  consider  the  absence  of  any  clear  trace  of  them 
a  proof  that  the  chronicler  did  not  either  know  them  or 
care  for  them. 

Our   brief  review  suggests  that  the  literary  concern 

'  2  Chron.  xvi.  9.  ^  2  Chron.  xx.  20. 

^  2  Chron.  xxix,  6. 


96  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


of  the  chronicler  and  his  circle  was  chiefly  in  the  books 
most  closely  connected  with  the  Temple;  viz.,  the  His- 
torical Books,  which  contained  its  history,  the  Penta- 
teuch, which  prescribed  its  ritual,  and  the  Psalms,  which 
served  as  its  liturgy.  The  Prophets  occupy  a  secondary 
place,  and  Chronicles  furnishes  no  clear  evidence  as  to 
other  Old  Testament  books. 

We  also  find  in  Chronicles  that  the  Hebrew  language 
had  degenerated  from  its  ancient  classical  purity,  and 
that  Jewish  writers  had  already  come  very  much  under 
the  influence  of  Aramaic. 

We  may  next  consider  the  evidence  supplied  by  the 
chronicler  as  to  the  elements  and  distribution  of  the 
Jewish  community  in  his  time.  In  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
we  find  the  returning  exiles  divided  into  the  men  of 
Judah,  the  men  of  Benjamin,  and  the  priests,  Levites, 
etc.  In  Ezra  ii.  we  are  told  that  in  all  there  returned 
42,360,  with  7,337  slaves  and  200  "  singing  men  and 
singing  women."  The  priests  numbered  4,289 ;  there 
were  74  Levites,  128  singers  of  the  children  of 
Asaph,  139  porters,  and  392  Nethinim  and  children  of 
Solomon's  servants.  The  singers,  porters,  Nethinim, 
and  children  of  Solomon's  servants  are  not  reckoned 
among  the  Levites,  and  there  is  only  one  guild  of 
singers  :  "  the  children  of  Asaph."  The  Nethinim  are 
still  distinguished  from  the  Levites  in  the  list  of  those 
who  returned  with  Ezra,  and  in  various  lists  which 
occur  in  Nehemiah.  We  see  from  the  Levitical  genea- 
logies and  the  Levites  in  i  Chron.  vi.,  ix.,  etc.,  that 
in  the  time  of  the  chronicler  these  arrangements  had 
been  altered.  There  were  now  three  guilds  of  singers, 
tracing  their  descent  to  Heman,  Asaph,  and  Ethan  ^  or 
Jeduthun,  and  reckoned  by  descent  among  the  Levites. 

'  I  Chron.  vi.  31-48,  xv.  16-20;  cf.  psalm  titles. 


THE   CHRONICLERS   CONTEMPORARIES  97 

The  guild  of  Heman  seems  to  have  been  also  known 
as  "  the  sons  of  Korah."  ^  The  porters  and  probably 
eventually  the  Nethmim  were  also  reckoned  among  the 
Levites.^ 

We  see  therefore  that  in  the  interval  between 
Nehemiah  and  the  chronicler  the  inferior  ranks  of 
the  Temple  ministry  had  been  reorganised,  the  musical 
staff  had  been  enlarged  and  doubtless  otherwise 
improved,  and  the  singers,  porters,  Nethinim,  and 
other  Temple  servants  had  been  promoted  to  the 
position  of  Levites.  Under  the  monarchy  many  of 
the  Temple  servants  had  been  slaves  of  foreign  birth ; 
but  now  a  sacred  character  was  given  to  the  humblest 
menial  who  shared  in  the  work  of  the  house  of  God. 
In  after-times  Herod  the  Great  had  a  number  of  priests 
trained  as  masons,  in  order  that  no  profane  hand  might 
take  part  in  the  building  of  his  temple. 

Some  details  have  been  preserved  of  the  organisation 
of  the  Levites.  We  read  how  the  porters  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  different  gates,  and  of  Levites  who 
were  over  the  chambers  and  the  treasuries,  and  of  other 
Levites  how — 

"  They  lodged  round  about  the  house  of  God,  because 
the  charge  was  upon  them,  and  to  them  pertained  the 
opening  thereof  morning  by  morning. 

''And  certain  of  them  had  charge  of  the  vessels  of 
service ;  for  by  tale  were  they  brought  in,  and  by  tale 
were  they  taken  out. 

"  Some  of  them  also  were  appointed  over  the  furniture, 
and  over  all  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary,  and  over  the 
fine  flour,  and  the  wine,  and  the  oil,  and  the  frankincense, 
and  the  spices. 

■  I  Chron.  vi.  33,  37;  cf.  Psalm  Ixxxviii.  (title). 
*  I  Chron.  xvi.  38,  42. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


"And  some  of  the  sons  of  the  priests  prepared  the 
confection  of  the  spices. 

"  And  Mattithiah,  one  of  the  Levites  who  was  the 
first-born  of  Shallum  the  Korahite,  had  the  set  office 
over  the  things  that  were  baked  in  pans. 

"  And  some  of  their  brethren,  of  the  sons  of  the 
Kohathites,  were  over  the  shewbread  to  prepare  it  every 
sabbath."  ^ 

This  account  is  found  in  a  chapter  partly  identical 
with  Neh.  xi.,  and  apparently  refers  to  the  period 
of  Nehemiah ;  but  the  picture  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
chapter  was  probably  drawn  by  the  chronicler  from  his 
own  knowledge  of  Temple  routine.  So,  too,  in  his 
graphic  accounts  of  the  sacrifices  by  Hezekiah  and 
Josiah,^  we  seem  to  have  an  eyewitness  describing 
familiar  scenes.  Doubtless  the  chronicler  himself  had 
often  been  one  of  the  Temple  choir  **  when  the  burnt- 
ofiering  began,  and  the  song  of  Jehovah  began  also, 
together  with  the  instruments  of  David,  king  of 
Israel ;  and  all  the  congregation  worshipped,  and  the 
singers  sang,  and  the  trumpeters  sounded ;  and  all 
this  continued  till  the  burnt-offering  was  finished."^ 
Still  the  scale  of  these  sacrifices,  the  hundreds  of 
oxen  and  thousands  of  sheep,  may  have  been  fixed 
to  accord  with  the  splendour  of  the  ancient  kings. 
Such  profusion  of  victims  probably  represented  rather 
the  dreams  than  the  realities  of  the  chronicler's 
Temple. 

Our  author's  strong  feeling  for  his  own  Levitical 
order  shows  itself  in  his  narrative  of  Hezekiah's  great 
sacrifices.     The  victims  were  so  numerous   that  there 

'   I  C  hron.  ix.  26-32  ;  cf.  I  Chron.  xxiii.  24-32. 
^  2  Chron.  xxix.-xxxi. ;  xxxiv. ;  xxxv. 
^  2  Chron.  xxix.  27,  28. 


THE   CHRONICLERS   CONTEMPORARIES  99 

were  not  priests  enough  to  flay  them ;  to  meet  the 
emergency  the  Levites  were  allowed  on  this  one 
occasion  to  discharge  a  priestly  function  and  to  take 
an  unusually  conspicuous  part  in  the  national  festival. 
In  zeal  they  were  even  superior  to  the  priests  :  ''  The 
Levites  were  more  upright  in  heart  to  sanctify  them- 
selves than  the  priests."  Possibly  here  the  chronicler 
is  describing , an  incident  which  he  could  have  paralleled 
from  his  own  experience.  The  priests  of  his  time  may 
often  have  yielded  to  a  natural  temptation  to  shirk  the 
laborious  and  disagreeable  parts  of  their  duty ;  they 
would  catch  at  any  plausible  pretext  to  transfer  their 
burdens  to  the  Levites,  which  the  latter  would  be  eager 
to  accept  for  the  sake  of  a  temporary  accession  of 
dignity.  Learned  Jews  were  always  experts  in  the 
art  of  evading  the  most  rigid  and  minute  regulations 
of  the  Law.  For  instance,  the  period  of  service 
appointed  for  the  Levites  in  the  Pentateuch  was  from 
the  age  of  thirty  to  that  of  fifty. '^  But  we  gather  from 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  that  comparatively  few  Levites 
could  be  induced  to  throw  in  their  lot  with  the  return- 
ing exiles ;  there  were  not  enough  to  perform  the 
necessary  duties.  To  make  up  for  paucity  of  numbers, 
this  period  of  service  was  increased ;  and  they  were 
required  to  serve  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward.^ 
As  the  former  arrangement  had  formed  part  of 
the  law  attributed  to  Moses,  in  course  of  time  the 
later  innovation  was  supposed  to  have  originated  with 
David. 

There   were,  too,  other   reasons    for   increasing   the 
efficiency  of  the  Levitical   order   by  lengthening  their 

'  Num.  iv.  3,  23,  35. 

^  I  Chron.  xxiii.   24,  27.    Probably  "  twenty "  should  be  read  for 
"thirty  "  in  ver.  3. 


loo  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

term  of  service  and  adding  to  their  numbers.  The 
establishment  of  the  Pentateuch  as  the  sacred  code  of 
Judaism  imposed  new  duties  on  priests  and  Levites 
aUke.  The  people  needed  teachers  and  interpreters  of 
the  numerous  rninute  and  complicated  rules  by  which 
they  were  to  govern  their  daily  life.  Judges  were 
needed  to  apply  the  laws  in  civil  and  criminal  cases. 
The  Temple  ministers  were  the  natural  authorities  on 
the  Torah ;  they  had  a  chief  interest  in  expounding  and 
enforcing  it.  But  in  these  matters  also  the  priests 
seem  to  have  left  the  new  duties  to  the  Levites.  Appa- 
rently the  first  "  scribes,"  or  professional  students  of 
the  Law,  were  mainly  Levites.  There  were  priests 
among  them,  notably  the  great  father  of  the  order, 
"Ezra  the  priest  the  scribe,"  but  the  priestly  families 
took  little  share  in  this  new  work.  The  origin  of  the 
educational  and  judicial  functions  of  the  Levites  had 
also  come  to  be  ascribed  to  the  great  kings  of  Judah. 
A  Levitical  scribe  is  mentioned  in  the  time  of  David. ^ 
In  the  account  of  Josiah's  reign  we  are  expressly  told 
that  "of  the  Levites  there  were  scribes,  and  officers, 
and  porters  "  ;  and  they  are  described  as  "  the  Levites 
that  taught  all  Israel."  ^  In  the  same  context  we  have 
the  traditional  authority  and  justification  for  this  new 
departure.  One  of  the  chief  duties  imposed  upon  the 
Levites  by  the  Law  was  the  care  and  carriage  of  the 
Tabernacle  and  its  furniture  during  the  wanderings  in 
the  wilderness.  Josiah,  however,  bids  the  Levites  "  put 
the  holy  ark  in  the  house  which  Solomon  the  son  of 
David,  king  of  Israel,  did  build ;  there  shall  no  more 
be  a  burden  upon  your  shoulders ;  now  serve  the  Lord 
your  God  and  His  people  Israel."  ^     In    other  words, 

'  I  Chron.  xxiv.  6.  -'  2  Chron.  xxxiv,  13;  xxxv.  3. 

^  2  Chron.  xxxv.  3 ;  cf.  i  Chron.  xxiii.  26. 


THE   CHRONICLER'S   CONTEMPORARIES  loi 

"  You  are  relieved  of  a  large  part  of  your  old  duties, 
and  therefore  have  time  to  undertake  new  ones."  The 
immediate  application  of  this  principle  seems  to  be  that 
a  section  of  the  Levites  should  do  all  the  menial  work 
of  the  sacrifices,  and  so  leave  the  priests,  and  singers, 
and  porters  free  for  their  own  special  service ;  but  the 
same  argument  would  be  found  convenient  and  con- 
clusive whenever  the  priests  desired  to  impose  any 
new  functions  on  the  Levites. 

Still  the  task  of  expounding  and  enforcing  the  Law 
brought  with  it  compensations  in  the  shape  of  dignity, 
influence,  and  emolument ;  and  the  Levites  would  soon 
be  reconciled  to  their  work  as  scribes,  and  would 
discover  with  regret  that  they  could  not  retain  the 
exposition  of  the  Law  in  their  own  hands.  Traditions 
were  cherished  in  certain  Levitical  families  that  their 
ancestors  had  been  "  officers  and  judges  "  under  David  ^ ; 
and  it  was  believed  that  Jehoshaphat  had  organised  a 
commission  largely  composed  of  Levites  to  expound 
and  administer  the  Law  in  country  districts.^  This 
commission  consisted  of  five  princes,  nine  Levites,  and 
two  priests ;  "  and  they  taught  in  Judah,  having  the 
book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord  with  them ;  and  they 
went  about  throughout  all  the  cities  of  Judah  and 
taught  among  the  people."  As  the  subject  of  their 
teaching  was  the  Pentateuch,  their  mission  must  have 
been  rather  judicial  than  religious.  With  regard  to  a 
later  passage,  it  has  been  suggested  that  "  probably 
it  is  the  organisation  of  justice  as  existing  in  his  own 
day  that  he "  (the  chronicler)  *'  here  carries  back  to 
Jehoshaphat,  so  that  here  most  likely  we  have  the 
oldest  testimony  to  the  synedrium  of  Jerusalem  as  a 

M  I  Chron.  xxvi.  29.  ^  2  Chron.  xvii.  7,  9. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


court  of  highest  instance  over  the  provincial  synedria, 
as  also  to  its  composition  and  presidency."  ^  We  can 
scarcely  doubt  that  the  form  the  chronicler  has  given 
to  the  tradition  is  derived  from  the  institutions  of  his 
own  age,  and  that  his  friends  the  Levites  were 
prominent  among  the  doctors  of  the  Law,  and  not  only 
taught  and  judged  in  Jerusalem,  but  also  visited  the 
country  districts. 

It  will  appear  from  this  brief  survey  that  the  Levites 
were  very  completely  organised.  There  were  not  only 
the  great  classes,  the  scribes,  officers,  porters,  singers, 
and  the  Levites  proper,  so  to  speak,  who  assisted  the 
priests,  but  special  families  had  been  made  responsible 
for  details  of  service  :  "  Mattithiah  had  the  set  office 
over  the  things  that  were  baked  in  pans  ;  and  some  of 
their  brethren,  of  the  sons  of  the  Kohathites,  were  over 
the  shewbread,  to  prepare  it  every  sabbath."  ^ 

The  priests  were  organised  quite  differently.  The 
small  number  of  Levites  necessitated  careful  arrange- 
ments for  using  them  to  the  best  advantage ;  of  priests 
there  were  enough  and  to  spare.  The  four  thousand 
two  hundred  and  eighty-nine  priests  who  returned  with 
Zerubbabel  were  an  extravagant  and  impossible  allow- 
ance for  a  single  temple,  and  we  are  told  that  the 
numbers  increased  largely  as  time  went  on.  The 
problem  was  to  devise  some  means  by  which  all  the 
priests  should  have  some  share  in  the  honours  and 
emoluments  of  the  Temple,  and  its  solution  was  found 
in  the  "courses."  The  priests  who  returned  with 
Zerubbabel  are  registered  in  four  families  :  **  the  children 
of  Jedaiah,  of  the  house  of  Jeshua  ;  .  .  .  the  children  of 
Immer ;  .  .   .  the  children  of  Pashhur ;  .  .  .  the  children 

'  Wellhausen,  History  of  Israel,  p.  191  ;  cf.  2  Chron.  xix.  4-II. 
^  I  Chron.  ix.  31,  32. 


THE  CHRONICLER'S   CONTEMPORARIES  103 

of  Harim."  ^  But  the  organisation  of  the  chronicler's 
time  is,  as  usual,  to  be  found  among  the  arrangements 
ascribed  to  David,  who  is  said  to  have  divided  the 
priests  into  their  twenty-four  courses.^  Amongst  the 
heads  of  the  courses  we  find  Jedaiah,  Jeshua,  Harim, 
and  Immer,  but  not  Pashhur.  Post-Biblical  authorities 
mention  twenty-four  courses  in  connection  with  the 
second  Temple.  Zacharias,  the  father  of  John  the 
Baptist,  belonged  to  the  course  of  Abijah  ^;  and  Josephus 
mentions  a  course  "  Eniakim."  *  Abijah  was  the  head 
of  one  of  David's  courses ;  and  Eniakim  is  almost 
certainly  a  corruption  of  Eliakim,  of  which  name  Jakim 
in  Chronicles  is  a  contraction. 

These  twenty-four  courses  discharged  the  priestly 
duties  each  in  its  turn.  One  was  busy  at  the  Temple 
while  the  other  twenty-three  were  at  home,  some  per- 
haps living  on  the  profits  of  their  office,  others  at  work 
on  their  farms.  The  high-priest,  of  course,  was  always 
at  the  Temple  ;  and  the  continuity  of  the  ritual  would 
necessitate  the  appointment  of  other  priests  as  a  per- 
manent staff.  The  high-priest  and  the  staff,  being 
always  on  the  spot,  would  have  great  opportunities  for 
improving  their  own  position  at  the  expense  of  the 
other  members  of  the  courses,  who  were  only  there 
occasionally  for  a  short  time.  Accordingly  we  are 
told  later  on  that  a  few  families  had  appropriated  nearly 
all  the  priestly  emoluments. 

Courses  of  the  Levites  are  sometimes  mentioned  in 
connection  with  those  of  the  priests,  as  if  the  Levites 
had  an  exactly  similar  organisation."  Indeed,  twenty- 
four  courses  of  the  singers  are  expressly  named. "^     But 

'  Ezra  ii.  36-39.  *  Bell.Jud.,  IV.  iii.  8. 

'^  I  Chron.  xxiv.  I-19.         ^  i  Chron.  xxiv.  20-31 ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  2. 

'  Luke  i.  5.  •*  I  Chron.  xxv. 


I04  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


on  examination  we  find  that  *'  course  "  for  the  Levites 
in  all  cases  where  exact  information  is  given  ^  does  not 
mean  one  of  a  number  of  divisions  which  took  work  in 
turn,  but  a  division  to  which  a  definite  piece  of  work 
was  assigned,  e.g.,  the  care  of  the  shewbread  or  of  one 
of  the  gates.  The  idea  that  in  ancient  times  there  were 
twenty-four  alternating  courses  of  Levites  was  not 
derived  from  the  arrangements  of  the  chronicler's 
age,  but  was  an  inference  from  the  existence  of  priestly 
courses.  According  to  the  current  interpretation  of  the 
older  history,  there  must  have  been  under  the  monarchy 
a  very  great  many  more  Levites  than  priests,  and  any 
reasons  that  existed  for  organising  twenty-four  priestly 
courses  would  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  Levites. 
It  is  true  that  the  names  of  twenty-four  courses  of 
singers  are  given,  but  in  this  list  occurs  the  remarkable 
and  impossible  group  of  names  already  discussed  : — 

*^  I-have-magnified,  I-have-exalted-help ;  Sitting-in- 
distress,  I-have-spoken  In-abundance  Visions,^'  ^  which 
are  in  themselves  sufficient  proof  that  these  twenty- 
four  courses  of  singers  did  not  exist  in  the  time  of  the 
chronicler. 

Thus  the  chronicler  provides  material  for  a  fairly 
complete  account  of  the  service  and  ministers  of  the 
Temple ;  but  his  interest  in  other  matters  was  less  close 
and  personal,  so  that  he  gives  us  comparatively  little 
information  about  civil  persons  and  affairs.  The 
restored  Jewish  community  was,  of  course,  made  up 
of  descendants  of  the  members  of  the  old  kingdom  of 

'   I  Chron.  xxvi. ;  Ezra  vi.  i8 ;  Neh.  xi.  36. 

^  Recently  a  complaint  was  received  at  the  General  Post-office 
that  some  newspapers  sent  from  France  had  failed  to  arrive.  It  was 
stated  that  the  names  of  the  papers  were — //  me  mancjue;  Phtsietirs] 
Journaiix ;  i.e.,  "  I  am  short  of"   "  Several  "  "Papers." 


THE  CHRONICLERS   CONTEMPORARIES  105 

Judah.  The  new  Jewish  state,  like  the  old,  is  often 
spoken  of  as  "  Judah  "  ;  but  its  claim  to  fully  represent 
the  chosen  people  of  Jehovah  is  expressed  by  the 
frequent  use  of  the  name  **  Israel."  Yet  within  this  new 
Judah  the  old  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  are  still 
recognised.  It  is  true  that  in  the  register  of  the  first 
company  of  returning  exiles  the  tribes  are  ignored,  and 
we  are  not  told  which  families  belonged  to  Judah  or 
which  to  Benjamin  ;  but  we  are  previously  told  that 
the  chiefs  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  rose  up  to  return 
to  Jerusalem.  Part  of  this  register  arranges  the  com- 
panies according  to  the  towns  in  which  their  ancestors 
had  lived  before  the  Captivity,  and  of  these  some  belong 
to  Judah  and  some  to  Benjamin.  We  also  learn  that 
the  Jewish  community  included  certain  of  the  children 
of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh.^  There  may  also  have  been 
families  from  the  other  tribes ;  St.  Luke,  for  instance, 
describes  Anna  as  of  the  tribe  of  Asher.^  But  the 
mass  of  genealogical  matter  relating  to  Judah  and 
Benjamin  far  exceeds  what  is  given  as  to  the  other 
tribes,^  and  proves  that  Judah  and  Benjamin  were 
co-ordinate  members  of  the  restored  community,  and 
that  no  other  tribe  contributed  an}''  appreciable  con- 
tingent, except  a  few  families  from  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  chronicler 
shows  special  interest  in  the  tribes  which  had  occupied 
Galilee — Asher,  Naphtali,  Zebulun,  and  Issachar — and 
that  this  special  interest  indicates  that  the  settlement 
of  Jews  in  Galilee  had  attained  considerable  dimensions 
at  the  time  when  he  wrote.  But  this  special  interest 
is  not  very  manifest ;  and  later  on,  in  the  time  of  the 


'   I  Chron.  ix.  3.  ^  Luke  ii.  36. 

^  Levi  of  course  excepted. 


io6  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Maccabees,  the  Jews  in  Galilee  were  so  few  that  Simon 
took  them  all  away  with  him,  together  with  their  wives 
and  their  children  and  all  that  they  had,  and  brought 
them  into  Judaea. 

The  genealogies  seem  to  imply  that  no  descendants 
of  the  Transjordanic  tribes  or  of  Simeon  were  found  in 
Judah  in  the  age  of  the  chronicler. 

Concerning  the  tribe  of  Judah,  v/e  have  already  noted 
that  it  included  two  families  which  traced  their  descent 
to  Egyptian  ancestors,  and  that  the  Kenizzite  clans  of 
Caleb  and  Jerahmeel  had  been  entirely  incorporated  in 
Judah  and  formed  the  most  important  part  of  the  tribe. 
A  comparison  of  the  parallel  genealogies  of  the  house 
of  Caleb  gives  us  important  information  as  to  the 
territory  occupied  by  the  Jews.  In  ii.  42-49  we  find 
the  Calebites  at  Hebron  and  other  towns  of  the  south 
country,  in  accordance  with  the  older  history ;  but  in 
ii.  50-55  they  occupy  Bethlehem  and  Kirjath-jearim 
and  other  towns  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem. 
The  two  paragraphs  are  really  giving  their  territory 
before  and  after  the  Exile  ;  during  the  Captivity  Southern 
Judah  had  been  occupied  by  the  Edomites.  It  is 
indeed  stated  in  Neh.  xi.  25-30  that  the  children  of 
Judah  dwelt  in  a  number  of  towns  scattered  over  the 
whole  territory  of  the  ancient  tribe  ;  but  the  list  con- 
cludes with  the  significant  sentence,  "  So  they  encamped 
from  Beer-sheba  unto  the  valley  of  Hinnom."  We  are 
thus  given  to  understand  that  the  occupation  was  not 
permanent. 

We  have  already  noted  that  much  of  the  space 
allotted  to  the  genealogies  of  Judah  is  devoted  to  the 
house  of  David.^     The  form  of   this  pedigree  for  the 

'   I  Chron.  iii. 


THE   CHRONICLER'S  CONTEMPORARIES  107 

generations  after  the  Captivity  indicates  that  the  head 
of  the  house  of  David  was  no  longer  the  chief  of  the 
state.  During  the  monarchy  only  the  kings  are  given 
as  heads  of  the  family  in  each  generation  :  *'  Solomon's 
son  was  Rehoboam,  Abijah  his  son,  Asa  his  son,"  etc., 
etc.;  but  after  the  Captivity  the  first-born  no  longer 
occupied  so  unique  a  position.  We  have  all  the  sons  of 
each  successive  head  of  the  family. 

The  genealogies  of  Judah  include  one  or  two  refer- 
ences which  throw  a  little  light  on  the  social  organisa- 
tion of  the  times.  There  were  '*  families  of  scribes 
which  dwelt  at  Jabez  "  ^  as  well  as  the  Levitical  scribes. 
In  the  appendix^  to  the  genealogies  of  chap.  iv.  we 
read  of  a  house  whose  families  wrought  fine  linen,  and 
of  other  families  who  were  porters  to  the  king  and 
lived  on  the  royal  estates.  The  immediate  reference 
of  these  statements  is  clearly  to  the  monarchy,  and  we 
are  told  that  "  the  records  are  ancient "  ;  but  these 
ancient  records  were  probably  obtained  by  the 
chronicler  from  contemporary  members  of  the  families, 
who  still  pursued  their  hereditary  calling. 

As  regards  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  we  have  seen  that 
there  was  a  family  claiming  descent  from  Saul. 

The  slight  and  meagre  information  given  about  Judah 
and  Benjamin  cannot  accurately  represent  their  import- 
ance as  compared  with  the  priests  and  Levites,  but  the 
general  impression  conveyed  by  the  chronicler  is  con- 
firmed by  our  other  authorities.  In  his  time  the 
supreme  interests  of  the  Jews  were  religious.  The  one 
great  institution  was  the  Temple  ;  the  highest  order  was 
the  priesthood.  All  Jews  were  in  a  measure  servants 
of  the  Temple  ;  Ephesus  indeed  was  proud  to  be  called 

'  ii.  55.  -  iv.  21-23. 


lo8  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

the  temple-keeper  of  the  great  Diana,  but  Jerusalem 
was  far  more  truly  the  temple-keeper  of  Jehovah. 
Devotion  to  the  Temple  gave  •  to  the  Jews  a  unity 
which  neither  of  the  older  Hebrew  states  had  ever 
possessed.  The  kernel  of  this  later  Jewish  territory 
seems  to  have  been  a  comparatively  small  district  of 
which  Jerusalem  was  the  centre.  The  inhabitants 
of  this  district  carefully  preserved  the  records  of  their 
family  history,  and  loved  to  trace  their  descent  to  the 
ancient  clans  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  ;  but  for  practical 
purposes  they  were  all  Jews,  without  distinction  of 
tribe.  Even  the  ministry  of  the  Temple  had  become 
more  homogeneous ;  the  non-Levitical  descent  of  some 
classes  of  the  Temple  servants  was  first  ignored  and 
then  forgotten,  so  that  assistants  at  the  sacrifices, 
singers,  musicians,  scribes,  and  porters,  were  all  included 
in  the  tribe  of  Levi.  The  Temple  conferred  its  own 
sanctit}'-  upon  all  its  ministers. 

In  a  previous  chapter  the  Temple  and  its  ministry 
were  compared  to  a  mediaeval  monastery  or  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  modern  cathedral.  In  the  same  way 
Jerusalem  might  be  compared  to  cities,  like  Ely  or 
Canterbury,  which  exist  mainly  for  the  sake  of  their 
cathedrals,  only  both  the  sanctuary  and  city  of  the 
Jews  came  to  be  on  a  larger  scale.  Or,  again,  if  the 
Temple  be  represented  by  the  great  abbey  of  St. 
Edmundsbury,  Bury  St.  Edmunds  itself  might  stand 
for  Jerusalem,  and  the  wide  lands  of  the  abbey  for  the 
surrounding  districts,  from  which  the  Jewish  priests 
derived  their  free-will  offerings,  and  first-fruits,  and 
tithes.  Still  in  both  these  English  instances  there  was 
a  vigorous  and  independent  secular  life  far  beyond  any 
that  existed  in  Judaea. 

A  closer  parallel  to  the    temple   on  Zion    is   to    be 


THE  CHRONICLER'S  CONTEMPORARIES  109 

found  in  the  immense  establishments  of  the  Egyptian 
temples.  It  is  true  that  these  were  numerous  in  Egypt, 
and  the  authority  and  influence  of  the  priesthood  were 
checked  and  controlled  by  the  power  of  the  kings ; 
yet  on  the  fall  of  the  twentieth  dynasty  the  high-priest 
of  the  great  temple  of  Amen  at  Thebes  succeeded  in 
making  himself  king,  and  Egypt,  like  Judah,  had  its 
dynasty  of  priest-kings. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  the  possessions  of 
the  Theban  temple  of  Amen,  supposed  to  be  given  by 
an  Egyptian  living  about  b.c.  1350  ^ : — 

"  Since  the  accession  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty, 
Amen  has  profited  more  than  any  other  god,  perhaps 
even  more  than  Pharaoh  himself,  by  the  Egyptian 
victories  over  the  peoples  of  Syria  and  Ethiopia.  Each 
success  has  brought  him  a  considerable  share  of  the 
spoil  collected  upon  the  battle-fields,  indemnities  levied 
from  the  enemy,  prisoners  carried  into  slavery.  He 
possesses  lands  and  gardens  by  the  hundred  in  Thebes 
and  the  rest  of  Egypt,  fields  and  meadows,  woods, 
hunting-grounds,  and  fisheries ;  he  has  colonies  in 
Ethiopia  or  in  the  oases  of  the  Libyan  desert,  and  at 
the  extremity  of  the  land  of  Canaan  there  are  cities 
under  vassalage  to  him,  for  Pharaoh  allows  him  to 
receive  the  tribute  from  them.  The  administration  of 
these  vast  properties  requires  as  many  officials  and 
departments  as  that  of  a  kingdom.  It  includes  in- 
numerable bailiffs  for  the  agriculture ;  overseers  for 
the  cattle  and  poultr}^ ;  treasurers  of  twenty  kinds  for 
•the  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  the  vases  and  valuable 
stuffs  ;  foremen  for  the  workshops  and  manufactures  ; 
engineers ;  architects  ;  boatmen  ;  a  fleet  and  an  army 

'  Maspero,  Ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria,  p.  60. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


which  often  fight  by  the   side  of  Pharaoh's  fleet  and 
army.     It  is  really  a  state  within  the  state." 

Many  of  the  details  of  this  picture  would  not  be  true 
for  the  temple  of  Zion ;  but  the  Jews  were  even  more 
devoted  to  Jehovah  than  the  Thebans  to  Amen,  and 
the  administration  of  the  Jewish  temple  was  more  than 
"  a  state  within  the  state  "  :  it  was  the  state  itself. 


CHAPTER   VI 

TEACHING  BY  ANACHRONISM 

I   Chron.  ix.  (cf,   XV,,  xvi.,  xxiii.-xxvii.,  etc.). 

"And  David  the  king  said,  .  .  .  Who  then  offereth  willingly  ?  .  .  . 
And  they  gave  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  God  .  .  .  ten  thousand 
darics." — I  Chron.  xxix.  I,  5,  7. 

TEACHING  by  anachronism  is  a  very  common 
and  effective  form  of  religious  instruction ;  and 
Chronicles,  as  the  best  Scriptural  example  of  this 
method,  affords  a  good  opportunity  for  its  discussion 
and  illustration. 

All  history  is  more  or  less  guilty  of  anachronism  ; 
every  historian  perforce  imports  some  of  the  ideas  and 
circumstances  of  his  own  time  into  his  narratives  and 
pictures  of  the  past :  but  we  may  distinguish  three 
degrees  of  anachronism.  Some  writers  or  speakers 
make  little  or  no  attempt  at  archaeological  accuracy  ; 
others  temper  the  generally  anachronistic  character 
of  their  compositions  by  occasional  reference  to  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  period  they  are  describ- 
ing ;  and,  again,  there  are  a  few  trained  students  who 
succeed  in  drawing  fairly  accurate  and  consistent 
pictures  of  ancient  life  and  history. 

We  will  briefly  consider  the  last  two  classes  before 
returning  to  the  first,  in  which  we  are  chiefly  interested. 


it2  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Accurate  archaeology  is,  of  course,  part  of  the  ideal 
of  the  scientific  historian.  By  long  and  careful  study 
of  literature  and  monuments  and  by  the  exercise  of 
a  lively  and  well-trained  imagination,  the  student 
obtains  a  vision  of  ancient  societies.  Nineveh  and 
Babylon,  Thebes  and  Memphis,  rise  from  their  ashes 
and  stand  before  him  in  all  their  former  splendour  ; 
he  walks  their  streets  and  mixes  with  the  crowds  in 
the  market-place  and  the  throng  of  worshippers  at  the 
temple,  each  "  in  his  habit  as  he  lived."  Rameses 
and  Sennacherib,  Ptolemy  and  Antiochus,  all  play  their 
proper  parts  in  this  drama  of  his  fancy.  He  can  not 
only  recall  their  costumes  and  features  :  he  can  even 
think  their  thoughts  and  feel  their  emotions ;  he  actually 
lives  in  the  past.  In  Marius  the  Epicurean,  in  Ebers's 
Uarda,  in  Maspero's  Sketches  of  Assyrian  and  Egyptian 
Life,  and  in  other  more  serious  works  we  have  some  of 
the  fruits  of  this  enlightened  study  of  antiquity,  and 
are  enabled  to  see  the  visions  at  second  hand  and  in 
some  measure  to  live  at  once  in  the  present  and  the 
past,  to  illustrate  and  interpret  the  one  by  the  other, 
to  measure  progress  and  decay,  and  to  understand  the 
Divine  meaning  of  all  history.  Our  more  recent 
histories  and  works  on  life  and  manners  and  even  our 
historical  romances,  especially  those  of  Walter  Scott, 
have  rendered  a  similar  service  to  students  of  English 
history.  And  yet  at  its  very  best  such  realisation  of 
the  past  is  imperfect ;  the  gaps  in  our  information  are 
unconsciously  filled  in  from  our  experience,  and  the 
ideas  of  the  present  always  colour  our  reproduction  of 
ancient  thought  and  feeling.  The  most  accurate  history 
is  only  a  rough  approximation  to  exact  truth ;  but,  like 
many  other  rough  approximations,  it  is  exact  enough 
for  many  important  practical  purposes. 


TEACHING  BY  ANACHRONISM  113 

But  scholarly  familiarity  with  the  past  has  its  draw- 
backs. The  scholar  may  come  to  live  so  much  amongst 
ancient  memories  that  he  loses  touch  with  his  own 
present.  He  may  gain  large  stores  of  information 
about  ancient  Israelite  life,  and  yet  not  know  enough 
of  his  own  generation  to  be  able  to  make  them  sharers 
of  his  knowledge.  Their  living  needs  and  circum- 
stances lie  outside  his  practical  experience ;  he  cannot 
explain  the  past  to  them  because  he  does  not  sym- 
pathise with  their  present ;  he  cannot  apply  its  lessons  to 
difficulties  and  dangers  which  he  does  not  understand. 

Nor  is  the  usefulness  of  the  archaeologist  merely 
limited  by  his  own  lack  of  sympathy  and  experience. 
He  may  have  both,  and  yet  find  that  there  are  few  9f 
his  contemporaries  who  can  follow  him  in  his  excursions 
into  bygone  time.  These  limitations  and  drawbacks 
do  not  seriously  diminish  the  value  of  archaeology,  but 
they  have  to  be  taken  into  account  in  discussing  teach- 
ing by  anachronism,  and  they  have  an  important 
bearing  on  the  practical  application  of  archaeological 
knowledge.     We  shall  return  to  these  points  later  on. 

The  second  degree  of  anachronism  is  very  common. 
We  are  constantly  hearing  and  reading  descriptions 
of  Bible  scenes  and  events  in  which  the  centuries 
before  and  after  Christ  are  most  oddly  blended.  Here 
and  there  will  be  a  costume  after  an  ancient  monument, 
a  Biblical  description  of  Jewish  customs,  a  few  Scrip- 
tural phrases ;  but  these  are  embedded  in  paragraphs 
which  simply  reproduce  the  social  and  religious  ideas 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  For  instance,  in  a  recent 
work,  amidst  much  display  of  archaeological  knowledge, 
we  have  the  very  modern  ideas  that  Joseph  and  Mary 
went  up  to  Bethlehem  at  the  census,  because  Joseph 
and  perhaps  Mary  also  had  property  in  Bethlehem,  and 


114  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


that  when  Joseph  died  "  he  left  her  a  small  but  inde- 
pendent fortune."  Many  modern  books  might  be 
named  in  which  Patriarchs  and  Apostles  hold  the  lan- 
guage and  express  the  sentiments  of  the  most  recent 
schools  of  devotional  Christianity ;  and  yet  an  air  of 
historical  accuracy  is  assumed  by  occasional  touches 
of  archaeology.  Similarly  in  mediaeval  miracle-plays 
characters  from  the  Bible  appeared  in  the  dress  of  the 
period,  and  uttered  a  grotesque  mixture  of  Scriptural 
phrases  and  vernacular  jargon.  Much  of  such  work 
as  this  may  for  all  practical  purposes  be  classed 
under  the  third  degree  of  anachronism.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  spiritual  significance  of  a  passage  or  an 
incident  turns  upon  a  simple  explanation  of  some 
ancient  custom,  so  that  the  archaeological  detail  makes 
a  clear  addition  to  its  interest  and  instructiveness. 
But  in  other  cases  a  little  archaeology  is  a  dangerous 
thing.  Scattered  fragments  of  learned  information  do 
not  enable  the  reader  in  any  way  to  revive  the  buried 
past ;  they  only  remove  the  whole  subject  further  from 
his  interest  and  sympathy.  He  is  not  reading  about 
his  own  day,  nor  does  he  understand  that  the  events 
and  personages  of  the  narrative  ever  had  anything  in 
common  with  himself  and  his  experience.  The  antique 
garb,  the  strange  custom,  the  unusual  phrase,  di.sguise 
that  real  humanity  which  the  reader  shares  with  these 
ancient  worthies.  They  are  no  longer  men  of  like 
passions  with  himself,  and  he  finds  neither  warning 
nor  encouragement  in  their  story.  He  is  like  a  spec- 
tator of  a  drama  played  by  poor  actors  with  a  limited 
stock  of  properties.  The  scenery  and  dresses  show 
that  the  play  does  not  belong  to  his  own  time,  but  they 
fail  to  suggest  that  it  ever  belonged  to  any  period. 
He    has   a  languid  interest    in    the  performance  as  a 


TEACHING  BY  ANACHRONISM  115 


spectacle,  but  his  feelings  are  not  touched,  and  he  is 
never  carried  away  by  the  acting. 

We  have  laid  so  much  stress  on  the  drawbacks 
attaching  to  a  little  archaeology  because  they  will 
emphasise  what  we  have  to  say  about  the  use  of  pure 
anachronism.  Our  last  illustration,  however,  reminds 
us  that  these  drawbacks  detract  but  little  from  the 
influence  of  earnest  men.  If  the  acting  be  good,  we 
forget  the  scenery  and  costumes  ;  the  genius  of  a  great 
preacher  more  than  atones  for  poor  archseology,  because, 
in  spite  of  dress  and  custom,  he  makes  his  hearers  feel 
that  the  characters  of  the  Bible  were  instinct  with  rich 
and  passionate  life.  We  thus  arrive  at  our  third  degree 
of  pure  anachronism. 

Most  people  read  their  Bible  without  any  reference 
to  archaeology.  If  they  dramatise  the  stories,  they  do 
so  in  terms  of  their  own  experience.  The  characters 
are  dressed  like  the  men  and  women  they  know : 
Nazareth  is  like  their  native  village,  and  Jerusalem  is 
like  the  county  town ;  the  conversations  are  carried  on 
in  the  English  of  the  Authorised  Version.  This  reading 
of  Scripture  is  well  illustrated  by  the  description  in  a 
recent  writer  of  a  modern  prophet  in  Tennessee  ^ : — 

"There  was  nought  in  the  scene  to  suggest  to  a 
mind  familiar  with  the  facts  an  Oriental  landscape — 
nought  akin  to  the  hills  of  Judaea.  It  was  essentially 
of  the  New  World,  essentially  of  the  Great  Smoky 
Mountains.  Yet  ignorance  has  its  licence.  It  never 
occurred  to  Teck  Jepson  that  his  Bible  heroes  had  lived 
elsewhere.  Their  history  had  to  him  an  intimate  per- 
sonal relation,  as  of  the  story  of  an  ancestor,  in  the 
homestead    ways    and    closely    familiar.     He    brooded 

'  Craddock,  Despot  of  Bromsgrove  Edge.  Teck  Jepson  is,  of  course, 
an  imaginary  character,  but  none  the  less  representative. 


\i6  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

upon  these  narratives,  instinct  with  dramatic  interest, 
enriched  with  poetic  colour,  and  locaHsed  in  his  robust 
imagination,  till  he  could  trace  Hagar's  wild  wanderings 
in  the  fastnesses,  could  show  where  Jacob  slept  and 
piled  his  altar  of  stones,  could  distinguish  the  bush,  of 
all  others  on  the  *  bald,'  that  blazed  with  fire  from 
heaven  when  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  within  it. 
Somehow,  even  in  their  grotesque  variation,  they 
lost  no  dignity  in  their  transmission  to  the  modern 
conditions  of  his  fancy.  Did  the  facts  lack  significance 
because  it  was  along  the  gullied  red  clay  roads  of 
Piomingo  Cove  that  he  saw  David,  the  smiling  stripling, 
running  and  holding  high  in  his  hand  the  bit  of  cloth 
cut  from  Saul's  garments  while  the  king  had  slept  in 
a  cave  at  the  base  of  Chilhowie  Mountain  ?  And  how 
was  the  splendid  miracle  of  translation  discredited 
because  Jepson  believed  that  the  chariot  of  the  Lord 
had  rested  in  scarlet  and  purple  clouds  upon  the  tower- 
ing summit  of  Thunderhead,  that  Elijah  might  thence 
ascend  into  heaven  ?  " 

Another  and  more  familiar  example  of  "singular  altera- 
tions in  date  and  circumstances"  is  the  version  in  Ivanhoe 
of  the  war  between  Benjamin  and  the  other  tribes  : — 

"  How  long  since  in  Palestine  a  deadly  feud  arose 
between  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  and  the  rest  of  the 
Israelitish  nation  ;  and  how  they  cut  to  pieces  well-nigh 
all  jthe  chivalry  of  that  tribe ;  and  how  they  swore  by 
our- blessed  Lady  that  they  would  not  permit  those  who 
remained  to  marry  in  their  lineage  ;  and  how  they 
became  grieved  for  their  vow,  and  sent  to  consult  his 
Holiness  the  Pope  how  they  might  be  absolved  from 
it ;  and  how,  by  the  advice  of  the  Holy  Father,  the 
youth  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  carried  off  from  a  superb 
tournament  all  the  ladies  who  were  there  present,  and 


TEACHING  BY  ANACHRONISM  117 

thus  won  them  wives  without  the  consent  either  of 
their  brides  or  their  brides'  famihes." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  chronicler  was  not  thus 
hopelessly  at  sea  about  the  circumstances  of  ancient 
Hebrew  history ;  but  he  wrote  in  the  same  simple, 
straightforward,  childlike  spirit.  Israel  had  aly^^ays 
been  the  Israel  of  his  own  experience,  and  it  never 
occurred  to  him  that  its  institutions  under  the  kings 
had  been  other  than  those  with  which  he  was  familiar. 
He  had  no  more  hesitation  in  filling  up  the  gaps  in  the 
book  of  Kings  from  what  he  saw  round  about  him 
than  a  painter  would  have  in  putting  the  white  clouds 
and  blue  waters  of  to-day  into  a  picture  of  skies  and 
seas  a  thousand  years  ago.  He  attributes  to  the  pious 
kings  of  Judah  the  observance  of  the  ritual  of  his  own 
times.  Their  prophets  use  phrases  taken  from  post- 
Exilic  writings.  David  is  regarded  as  the  author  of 
the  existing  ecclesiastical  system  in  almost  all  matters 
that  do  not  date  back  to  Moses,  and  especially  as 
the  organiser  of  the  familiar  music  of  the  Temple. 
David's  choristers  sing  the  hymns  of  the  second 
Temple.  Amongst  the  contributions  of  his  nobles 
towards  the  building  of  the  Temple,  we  read  of  ten 
thousand  darics,  the  daric  being  a  coin  introduced  by 
the  Persian  king  Darius. 

But  we  must  be  careful  to  recognise  that  the 
chronicler  writes  in  perfect  good  faith.  These  views 
of  the  monarchy  were  common  to  all  educated  and 
thoughtful  men  of  his  time ;  they  were  embodied  in 
cun-ent  tradition,  and  were  probably  already  to  be  met 
with  in  writing..  To  charge  him  with  inventing  them 
is  absurd  ;  they  already  existed,  and  did  not  need  to  be 
invented.  He  cannot  have  coloured  his  narrative  in 
the  interests  of  the  Temple  and  the  priesthood.     When 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


he  lived,  these  interests  wei"e  guaranteed  by  ancient 
custom  and  by  the  authoritative  sanction  of  the  Penta- 
teuchal  Law.  The  chronicler  does  not  write  with  the 
strong  feeling  of  a  man  who  maintains  a  doubtful  cause  ; 
there  is  no  hint  of  any  alternative  view  which  needs 
to  be  disproved  and  rejected  in  favour  of  his  own.  He 
expatiates  on  his  favourite  themes  with  happy,  leisurely 
serenity,  and  is  evidently  confident  that  his  treatment 
of  them  will  meet  with  general  and  cordial  approval. 

And  doubtless  the  author  of  Chronicles  "  served  his 
own  generation  by  the  will  of  God,"  and  served  them 
in  the  way  he  intended.  He  made  the  history  of  the 
monarchy  more  real  and  living  to  them,  and  enabled 
them  to  understand  better  that  the  reforming  kings  of 
Judah  were  loyal  servants  of  Jehovah  and  had  been 
used  by  Him  for  the  furtherance  of  true  religion.  The 
pictures  drawn  by  Samuel  and  Kings  of  David  and 
the  best  of  his  successors  would  not  have  enabled  the 
Jews  of  his  time  to  appreciate  these  facts.  They  had  no 
idea  of  any  piety  that  was  not  expressed  in  the  current 
observances  of  the  Law,  and  Samuel  and  Kings  did  not 
ascribe  such  observances  to  the  earlier  kings  of  Judah, 
But  the  chronicler  and  his  authorities  were  able  to 
discern  in  the  ancient  Scriptures  the  genuine  piety  of 
David  and  Hezekiah  and  other  kings,  and  drew  what 
seemed  to  them  the  obvious  conclusion  that  these  pious 
kings  observed  the  Law.  They  then  proceeded  to 
rewrite  the  history  in  order  that  the  true  character  of 
the  kings  and  their  relation  to  Jehovah  might  be  made 
intelligible  to  the  people.  The  only  piety  which  the 
chronicler  could  conceive  was  combined  with  observ- 
ance of  the  Law ;  naturall}^  therefore  it  was  only  thus 
that  he  could  describe  piety.  His  work  would  be  read 
with    eager   interest,    and    would    play  a  definite    and 


TEACHING  BY  ANACHRONISM  119 


useful  part  in  the  religious  education  of  the  people.  It 
would  bring  home  to  them,  as  the  older  histories  could 
not,  the  abiding  presence  of  Jehovah  with  Israel  and 
its  leaders.  Chronicles  interpreted  history  to  its  own 
generation  by  translating  older  records  into  the  cir- 
cumstances and  ideas  of  its  own  time. 

And  in  this  it  remains  our  example.  Chronicles  may 
fall  very  far  short  of  the  ideal  and  yet  be  superior  to 
more  accurate  histories  which  fail  to  make  themselves 
intelligible  to  their  own  generation.  The  ideal  history 
no  doubt  would  tell  the  story  with  archaeological  pre- 
cision, and  then  interpret  it  by  modern  parallels ;  the 
historian  would  show  us  what  we  should  actually  have 
seen  and  heard  if  we  had  lived  in  the  period  he  is 
describing  ;  he  would  also  help  our  weak  imagination 
by  pointing  us  to  such  modern  events  or  persons  as 
best  illustrate  those  ancient  times.  No  doubt  Chronicles 
fails  to  bring  before  our  eyes  an  accurate  vision  of  the 
history  of  the  monarchy ;  but,  as  we  have  said,  all 
history  fails  somewhat  in  this  respect.  It  is  simply 
impossible  to  fulfil  the  demand  for  history  that  shall 
have  the  accuracy  of  an  architect's  plans  of  a  house 
or  an  astronomer's  diagrams  of  the  orbit  of  a  planet. 
Chronicles,  however,  fails  more  seriously  than  most 
history,  and  on  the  whole  rather  more  than  most 
commentaries  and  sermons. 

But  this  lack  of  archaeological  accuracy  is  far  less 
serious  than  a  failure  to  make  it  clear  that  the  events 
of  ancient  history  were  as  real  and  as  interesting  as 
those  of  modern  times,  and  that  its  personages  were 
actual  men  and  women,  with  a  full  equipment  of  body, 
mind,  and  soul.  There  have  been  many  teachers  and 
preachers,  innocent  of  archaeology,  who  have  yet  been 
able  to  apply  Bible  narratives  with  convincing  power 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  their  hearers.  They 
may  have  missed  some  points  and  misunderstood 
others,  but  they  have  brought  out  clearly  the  main, 
practical  teaching  of  their  subject ;  and  we  must  not 
allow  amusement  at  curious  anachronisms  to  blind  us 
to  their  great  gifts  in  applying  ancient  history  to 
modern  circumstances.  For  instance,  the  little  captive 
miaid  in  the  story  of  Naaman  has  been  described  by  a 
local  preacher  as  having  illuminated  texts  hung  up  in 
her  bedroom,  and  (perambulators  not  being  then  in 
use)  as  having  constructed  a  go-cart  for  the  baby  out 
of  an  old  tea-chest  and  four  cotton  reels.  We  feel 
inclined  to  smile ;  but,  after  all,  such  a  picture  would 
make  children  feel  that  the  captive  maid  was  a  girl 
whom  they  could  understand  and  might  even  imitate. 
A  more  correct  version  of  the  story,  told  with  less 
human  interest,  might  leave  the  impression  that  she 
was  a  mere  animated  doll  in  a  quaint  costume,  who 
made  impossibly  pious  remarks. 

Enlightened  and  well-informed  Christian  teachers 
may  still  learn  something  from  the  example  of  the 
chronicler.  The  uncritical  character  of  his  age  affords 
no  excuse  to  them  for  shutting  their  eyes  to  the  fuller 
light  which  God  has  given  to  their  generation.  But 
we  are  reminded  that  permanently  significant  stories 
have  their  parallels  in  every  age.  There  are  always 
prodigal  sons,  and  foolish  virgins,  importunate  widows, 
and  good  Samaritans.  The  ancient  narratives  are 
interesting  as  quaint  and  picturesque  stories  of  former 
times ;  but  it  is  our  duty  as  teachers  to  discover  the 
modern  parallels  of  their  eternal  meaning  :  their  lessons 
are  often  best  enforced  by  telling  them  afresh  as  they 
would  have  been  told  if  their  authors  had  lived  in  our 
time,  in  other  words  by  a  frank  use  of  anachronism. 


TEACHING  BY  ANACHRONISM 


It  may  be  objected  that  the  result  in  the  case  of 
Chronicles  is  not  encouraging.  Chronicles  is  far  less 
interesting  than  Kings,  and  far  less  useful  in  furnishing 
materials  for  the  historian.  These  facts,  however,  are  not 
inconsistent  with  the  usefulness  of  the  book  for  its  own 
age.  Teaching  by  anachronism  simply  seeks  to  render 
a  service  to  its  own  generation  ;  its  purpose  is  didactic, 
and  not  historical.  How  many  people  read  the  sermons 
of  eighteenth-century  divines  ?  But  each  generation 
has  a  right  to  this  special  service.  The  first  duty  of 
the  religious  teacher  is  for  the  men  and  women  that 
look  to  him  for  spiritual  help  and  guidance.  He  may 
incidentally  produce  literary  work  of  permanent  value 
for  posterity ;  but  a  Church  whose  ministry  sacrificed 
practical  usefulness  in  the  attempt  to  be  learned  and 
literary  would  be  false  to  its  most  sacred  functions. 
The  noblest  self-denial  of  Christian  service  may  often  lie 
in  putting  aside  all  such  ambition  and  devoting  the 
ability  which  might  have  made  a  successful  author  to 
making  Divine  truth  intelligible  and  interesting  to  the 
uncultured  and  the  unimaginative.  Authors  them- 
selves are  sometimes  led  to  make  a  similar  sacrifice ; 
they  write  to  help  the  many  to-day  when  they  might 
have  written  to  delight  men  of  literary  taste  in  all  ages. 
Few  things  are  so  ephemeral  as  popular  religious 
literature ;  it  is  as  quickly  and  entirely  forgotten  as  last 
year's  sunsets  :  but  it  is  as  necessary  and  as  useful  as 
the  sunshine  and  the  clouds,  which  are  being  always 
spent  and  always  renewed.  Chronicles  is  a  specimen 
of  this  class  of  literature,  and  its  presence  in  the  canon 
testifies  to  the  duty  of  providing  a  special  application  of 
the  sacred  truths  of  ancient  history  for  each  succeeding 
generation. 


BOOK   III 
MESSIANIC  AND   OTHER   TYPES 


123 


CHAPTER   I 

TEACHING  BY  TYPES 

A  MORE  serious  charge  has  been  brought  against 
Chronicles  than  that  dealt  with  in  the  last  chapter. 
Besides  anachronisms,  additions,  and  alterations,  the 
chronicler  has  made  omissions  that  give  an  entirely- 
new  complexion  to  the  history.  He  omits,  for  instance, 
almost  everything  that  detracts  from  the  character  and 
achievements  of  David  and  Solomon ;  he  almost 
entirely  ignores  the  reigns  of  Saul  and  Ishbosheth, 
and  of  all  the  northern  kings.  These  facts  are  obvious 
to  the  most  casual  reader,  and  a  moment's  reflection 
shows  that  David  as  we  should  know  him  if  we  had 
only  Chronicles  is  entirely  different  from  the  historical 
David  of  Samuel  and  Kings.  The  latter  David  has 
noble  qualities,  but  displays  great  weakness  and  falls 
into  grievous  sin ;  the  David  of  Chronicles  is  almost 
always  an  hero  and  a  blameless  saint. 

All  this  is  unquestionably  true,  and  yet  the  purpose 
and  spirit  of  Chronicles  are  honest  and  praiseworthy. 
Our  judgment  must  be  governed  by  the  relation  which 
the  chronicler  intended  his  work  to  sustain  towards  the 
older  history.  Did  he  hope  that  Samuel  and  Kings 
would  be  altogether  superseded  by  this  new  version 
of  the  history  of  the  monarchy,  and  so  eventually  be 

125 


126  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

suppressed  and  forgotten  ?  There  were  precedents 
that  might  have  encouraged  such  a  hope.  The  Penta- 
teuch and  the  books  from  Joshua  to  Kings  derived  their 
material  from  older  works ;  but  the  older  works  were 
superseded  by  these  books,  and  entirely  disappeared. 
The  circumstances,  however,  were  different  when  the 
chronicler  wrote  :  Samuel  and  Kings  had  been  estab- 
lished for  centuries.  Moreover,  the  Jewish  community 
in  Babylon  still  exercised  great  influence  over  the 
Palestinian  Jews.  Copies  of  Samuel  and  Kings  must 
have  been  preserved  at  Babylon,  and  their  possessors 
could  not  be  eager  to  destroy  them,  and  then  to  incur 
the  expense  of  replacing  them  by  copies  of  a  history 
written  at  Jerusalem  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
priests  and  Levites.  We  may  therefore  put  aside 
the  theory  that  Chronicles  was  intended  altogether  to 
supersede  Samuel  and  Kings.  Another  possible  theory 
is  that  the  chronicler,  after  the  manner  of  mediaeval 
historians,  composed  an  abstract  of  the  history  of  the 
world  from  the  Creation  to  the  Captivity  as  an  intro- 
duction to  his  account  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  of  the 
more  recent  post-Exilic  period.  This  theory  has  some 
truth  in  it,  but  does  not  explain  the  fact  that  Chronicles 
is  disproportionately  long  if  it  be  merely  such  an  intro- 
duction. Probably  the  chronicler's  main  object  was  to 
compose  a  text-book,  which  could  safely  and  usefully  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  common  people.  There 
were  obvious  objections  to  the  popular  use  of  Samuel 
and  Kings.  In  making  a  selection  from  his  material, 
the  chronicler  had  no  intention  of  falsifying  history. 
Scholars,  he  knew,  would  be  acquainted  with  the  older 
books,  and  could  supplement  his  narrative  from  the 
sources  which  he  himself  had  used.  In  his  own  work 
he  was  anxious  to  confine  himself  to  the  portions  of  the 


TEACHING  BY  TYPES  127 

history  which  had  an  obvious  religious  significance, 
and  could  readily  be  used  for  purposes  of  edification. 
He  was  only  applying  more  thoroughly  a  principle  that 
had  guided  his  predecessors.  The  Pentateuch  itself 
is  the  result  of  a  similar  selection,  only  there  and  in 
the  other  earlier  histories  a  very  human  interest  in 
dramatic  narrative  has  sometimes  interfered  with  an 
exclusive  attention  to  edification. 

Indeed,  the  principles  of  selection  adopted  by  the 
chronicler  are  common  to  many  historians.  A  school 
history  does  not  dwell  on  the  domestic  vices  of  kings 
or  on  the  private  failings  of  statesmen.  It  requires  no 
great  stretch  of  imagination  to  conceive  of  a  Royalist 
history  of  England,  that  should  entirely  ignore  the 
Commonwealth.  Indeed,  historians  of  Christian  mis- 
sions sometimes  show  about  the  same  interest  in  the 
work  of  other  Churches  than  their  own  that  Chronicles 
takes  in  the  northern  kingdom.  The  work  of  the 
chronicler  may  also  be  compared  to  monographs  which 
confine  themselves  to  some  special  aspect  of  their 
subject.  We  have  every  reason  to  be  thankful  that 
the  Divine  providence  has  preserved  for  us  the  richer 
and  fuller  narrative  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  but  we  cannot 
blame  the  chronicler  because  he  has  observed  some  of 
the  ordinary  canons  for  the  composition  of  historical 
text-books. 

The  chronicler's  selective  method,  however,  is  carried 
so  far  that  the  historical  value  of  his  work  is  seriously 
impaired ;  yet  in  this  respect  also  he  is  kept  in  coun- 
tenance by  very  respectable  authorities.  We  are  more 
concerned,  however,  to  point  out  the  positive  results  of 
the  method.  Instead  of  historical  portraits,  we  are  pre- 
sented with  a  gallery  of  ideals,  types  of  character  which 
we  are   asked  either  to   admire   or  to   condemn.     On 


128  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

the  one  hand,  we  have  David  and  Solomon,  Jehoshaphat 
and  Hezekiah,  and  the  rest  of  the  reforming  kings  of 
Judah ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  Jeroboam,  and 
Ahab,  and  Ahaz,  the  kings  of  Israel,  and  the  bad  kings 
of  Judah.  All  these  are  very  sharply  defined  in  either 
white  or  black.  The  types  of  Chronicles  are  ideals, 
and  not  studies  of  ordinary  human  character,  with  its 
mingled  motives  and  subtle  gradations  of  light  and 
shade.  The  chronicler  has  nothing  in  common  with 
the  authors  of  inodern  realistic  novels  or  anecdotal 
memoirs.  His  subject  is  not  human  nature  as  it  is  so 
much  as  human  nature  as  it  ought  to  be.  There  is 
obviously  much  to  be  learnt  from  such  ideal  pictures, 
and  this  form  of  inspired  teaching  is  by  no  means  the 
least  effective ;  it  may  be  roughly  compared  with  our 
Lord's  method  of  teaching  by  parables,  without, 
however,  at  all  putting  the  two  upon  the  same  level. 

Before  examining  these  types  in  detail,  we  may 
devote  a  little  space  to  some  general  considerations 
upon  teaching  by  types.  For  the  present  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  a  non-theological  sense  of  type, 
using  the  word  to  mean  any  individual  who  is  repre- 
sentative or  typical  of  a  class.  But  the  chronicler's 
individuals  do  not  represent  classes  of  actual  persons, 
but  good  men  as  they  seem  to  their  most  devoted 
admirers  and  bad  men  as  they  seem  to  their  worst 
enemies.  They  are  ideal  types.  Chronicles  is  not  the 
only  literature  in  which  such  ideal  types  are  found. 
They  occur  in  the  funeral  sermons  and  obituary  notices 
of  popular  favourites,  and  in  the  pictures  which 
politicians  draw  in  election  speeches  of  their  opponents, 
only  in  these  there  is  a  note  of  personal  feeling  from 
which  the  chronicler  is  free. 

In  fact,  all  biography  tends  to  idealise  ;  human  nature 


TEACHING  BY  TYPES  129 

as  it  is  has  generally  to  be  looked  for  in  the  pages  of 
fiction.  When  we  have  been  blessed  with  a  good  and 
brave  man,  we  wish  to  think  of  him  at  his  best ;  we 
are  not  anxious  to  have  thrust  upon  our  notice  the 
weaknesses  and  sins  which  he  regretted  and  for  the 
most  part  controlled.  Some  one  who  loved  and 
honoured  him  is  asked  to  write  the  biography,  with  a 
tacit  understanding  that  he  is  not  to  give  us  a  picture 
of  the  real  man  in  the  deshabille,  as  it  were,  of  his  own 
inner  consciousness.  He  is  to  paint  us  a  portrait  of 
the  man  as  he  strove  to  fashion  himself  after  his  own 
high  ideal.  The  true  man,  as  God  knows  him  and  as 
his  fellows  should  remember  him,  was  the  man  in  his 
higher  nature  and  nobler  aspirations.  The  rest,  surely, 
was  but  the  vanishing  remnant  of  a  repudiated  self. 
The  biographer  idealises,  because  he  believes  that  the 
ideal  best  represents  the  real  man.  This  is  what  the 
chronicler,  with  a  large  faith  and  liberal  charity,  has 
done  for  David  and  Solomon. 

Such  an  ideal  picture  appeals  to  us  with  pathetic 
emphasis.  It  seems  to  say,  "  In  spite  of  temptation, 
and  sin,  and  grievous  falls,  this  is  what  I  ever  aimed  at 
and  desired  to  be.  Do  not  thou  content  thyself  with  any 
lower  ideal.  My  higher  nature  had  its  achievements 
as  well  as  its  aspirations.  Remember  that  in  thy 
weakness  thou  mayest  also  achieve." 

"  What  I  aspired  to  be, 
And  was  not,  comforts  me ; 

*  *  *  * 

All  I  could  never  be, 
All  men  ignored  in  me, 
This  I  was  worth  to  God.  .  .  ." 

But  we  may  take  these  ideals  as  types,  not  only  in 
a   general    sense,    but    also    in    a    modification    of  the 

9 


I30  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

dogmatic  meaning  of  the  word.  We  are  not  concerned 
here  with  the  type  as  the  mere  external  symbol  of 
truth  yet  to  be  revealed ;  such  types  are  chiefly  found 
in  the  ritual  of  the  Pentateuch.  The  circumstances  of 
a  man's  life  may  also  serve  as  a  type  in  the  narrower 
sense,  but  we  venture  to  apply  the  theological  idea  of 
type  to  the  significance  of  the  higher  nature  in  a  good 
man.  It  has  been  said  in  reference  to  types  in  the 
theological  sense  that  ''  a  type  is  neither  a  prophecy, 
nor  a  symbol,  nor  an  allegory,  yet  it  has  relations  with 
each  of  these.  A  prophecy  is  a  prediction  in  words,  a 
type  a  prediction  in  things.  A  symbol  is  a  sensuous 
representation  of  a  thing  ;  a  type  is  such  a  representation 
having  a  distinctly  predictive  aspect :  .  .  .  a  type  is 
an  enacted  prophecy,  a  kind  of  prophecy  by  action."  ^ 
We  cannot,  of  course,  include  in  our  use  of  the  term 
type  "  sensuous  representation  "  and  some  other  ideas 
connected  with  "  type  "  in  a  theological  sense.  Our 
type  is  a  prediction  in  persons  rather  than  in  things. 
But  the  use  of  the  term  is  justified  as  including  the 
most  essential  point:  that  **a  type  is  an  enacted  prophecy, 
a  kind  of  prophecy  by  action."  These  personal  types 
are  the  most  real  and  significant ;  they  have  no  mere 
arbitrary  or  conventional  relation  to  their  antitype. 
The  enacted  prophecy  is  the  beginning  of  its  own 
fulfilment,  the  first-fruits  of  the  greater  harvest  that  is 
to  be.  The  better  moments  of  the  man  who  is  hunger- 
ing and  thirsting  after  righteousness  are  a  type,  a 
promise,  and  prophecy  of  his  future  satisfaction.  They 
have  also  a  wider  and  deeper  meaning  :  they  show 
what  is  possible  for  humanity,  and  give  an  assurance  of 
the  spiritual  progress  of  the  world.     The  elect  remnant 

'  Cave,  Scripture  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice,  p.  163. 


TEACHING  BY  TYPES 


of  Israel  were  the  type  of  the  great  Christian  Church  ; 
the  spiritual  aspirations  and  persistent  faith  of  a  few 
believers  were  a  prophecy  that  "  the  earth  should  be 
full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea."  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed,  .  .  .  which  is  less  than  all  seeds  ; 
but  when  it  is  grown,  it  is  greater  than  the  herbs, 
and  becometh  a  tree."  When  therefore  the  chronicler 
ignores  the  evil  in  David  and  Solomon  and  only  records 
the  good,  he  treats  them  as  types.  He  takes  what 
was  best  in  them  and  sets  it  forth  as  a  standard  and 
prophecy  for  the  future,  a  pattern  in  the  mount  to  be 
realised  hereafter  in  the  structure  of  God's  spiritual 
temple  upon  earth. 

But  the  Holy  Spirit  guided  the  hopes  and  intuitions 
of  the  sacred  writers  to  a  special  fulfilment.  We  can 
see  that  their  types  have  one  antitype  in  the  growth  of 
the  Church  and  the  progress  of  mankind ;  but  the  Old 
Testament  looked  for  their  chief  fulfilment  in  a  Divine 
Messenger  and  Deliverer :  its  ideals  are  types  of  the 
Messiah.  The  higher  life  of  a  good  man  was  a  revela- 
tion of  God  and  a  promise  of  His  highest  and  best 
manifestation  in  Christ.  We  shall  endeavour  to  show 
in  subsequent  chapters  how  Chronicles  served  to  develop 
the  idea  of  the  Messiah. 

But  the  chronicler's  types  are  not  all  prophecies  of 
future  progress  or  Messianic  glory.  The  brighter  por- 
tions of  his  picture  are  thrown  into  relief  by  a  dark 
background.  The  good  in  Jeroboam  is  as  completely 
ignored  as  the  evil  in  David.  Apart  from  any  question 
of  historical  accuracy,  the  type  is  unfortunately  a  true 
one.  There  is  a  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  Herod, 
as  well  as  a  leaven  of  the  kingdom.  If  the  base  leaven 
be  left  to  work  by  itself,  it  will  leaven  the  whole  mass ; 


132  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

and  in  a  final  estimate  of  the  character  of  those  who 
do  evil  "  with  both  hands  earnestly,"  little  allowance 
needs  to  be  made  for  redeeming  features.  Even  if  we 
are  still  able  to  believe  that  there  is  a  seed  of  goodness 
in  things  evil,  we  are  forced  to  admit  that  the  seed  has 
remained  dead  and  unfertilised,  has  had  no  growth  and 
borne  no  fruit.  But  probably  most  men  may  some- 
times be  profitably  admonished  by  considering  the 
typical  sinner — the  man  in  whose  nature  evil  has  been 
able  to  subdue  all  things  to  itself. 

The  strange  power  of  teaching  by  types  has  been 
well  expressed  by  one  who  was  herself  a  great  mistress 
of  the  art :  *'  Ideas  are  often  poor  ghosts  :  our  sun- 
filled  eyes  cannot  discern  them  ;  they  pass  athwart  us 
in  thin  vapour,  and  cannot  make  themselves  felt ;  they 
breathe  upon  us  with  warm  breath,  they  touch  us  with 
soft,  responsive  hands  ;  they  look  at  us  with  sad,  sincere 
eyes,  and  speak  to  us  in  appealing  tones ;  they  are 
clothed  in  a  living  human  soul ;  .  .  .  their  presence 
is  a  power."  ^ 

'  George  Eliot,  Janefs  Repentance,  chap.  xix. 


CHAPTER    II 

DAVID— I.    HIS    TRIBE    AND    DYNASTY 

KING  and  kingdom  were  so  bound  up  in  ancient 
life  that  an  ideal  for  the  one  implied  an  ideal  for 
the  other ;  all  distinction  and  glory  possessed  by  either 
was  shared  by  both.  The  tribe  and  kingdom  of  Judah 
were  exalted  by  the  fame  of  David  and  Solomon  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  specially  exalted  position  is 
accorded  to  David  in  the  Old  Testament  because  he 
is  the  representative  of  the  people  of  Jehovah.  David 
himself  had  been  anointed  by  Divine  command  to  be 
king  of  Israel,  and  he  thus  became  the  founder  of  the 
only  legitimate  dynasty  of  Hebrew  kings.  Saul  and 
Ishbosheth  had  no  significance  for  the  later  religious 
history  of  the  nation.  Apparently  to  the  chronicler  the 
history  of  true  religion  in  Israel  was  a  blank  between 
Joshua  and  David  ;  the  revival  began  when  the  Ark  was 
brought  to  Zion,  and  the  first  steps  were  taken  to  rear 
the  Temple  in  succession  to  the  Mosaic  tabernacle. 
He  therefore  omits  the  history  of  the  Judges  and  Saul. 
But  the  battle  of  Gilboa  is  given  to  introduce  the  reign 
of  David,  and  incidental  condemnation  is  passed  on 
Saul :  "  So  Saul  died  for  his  trespass  which  he  com- 
mitted against  the  Lord,  because  of  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  which  he  kept  not,  and  also  for  that  he  asked 
counsel    of  one  that   had  a  familiar  spirit,    to   inquire 

133 


134  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

thereby,  and  inquired  not  of  the  Lord ;  therefore  He 
slew  him  and  turned  the  kingdom  unto  David  the  son 
of  Jesse." 

The  reign  of  Saul  had  been  an  unsuccessful  experi- 
ment ;  its  only  real  value  had  been  to  prepare  the  way 
for  David.  At  the  same  time  the  portrait  of  Saul  is 
not  given  at  full  length,  like  those  of  the  wicked  kings, 
pai^tly  perhaps  because  the  chronicler  had  little  interest 
for  anything  before  the  time  of  David  and  the  Temple, 
but  partly,  we  may  hope,  because  the  record  of  David's 
affection  for  Saul  kept  alive  a  kindly  feeling  towards  the 
founder  of  the  monarchy. 

Inasmuch  as  Jehovah  had  "  turned  the  kingdom  unto 
David,"  the  reign  of  Ishbosheth  was  evidently  the 
intrusion  of  an  illegitimate  pretender ;  and  the  chronicler 
treats  it  as  such.  If  we  had  only  Chronicles,  we  should 
know  nothing  about  the  reign  of  Ishbosheth,  and  should 
suppose  that,  on  the  death  of  Saul,  David  succeeded  at 
once  to  an  undisputed  sovereignty  over  all  Israel.  The 
interval  of  conflict  is  ignored  because,  according  to  the 
chronicler's  views,  David  was,  from  the  first,  king  de 
jure  over  the  whole  nation.  Complete  silence  as  to 
Ishbosheth  was  the  most  effective  way  of  expressing 
this  fact. 

The  same  sentiment  of  hereditary  legitimacy,  the 
same  formal  and  exclusive  recognition  of  a  de  jure 
sovereign,  has  been  shown  in  modern  times  by  titles 
Hke  Louis  XVIII.  and  Napoleon  III.  For  both  schools 
of  Legitimists  the  absence  of  de  facto  sovereignty  did 
not  prevent  Louis  XVII,  and  Napoleon  II.  from 
having  been  lawful  rulers  of  France.  In  Israel,  more- 
over, the  Divine  right  of  the  one  chosen  dynasty  had 
religious  as  well  as  political  importance.  We  have 
already  seen   that  Israel  claimed  a  hereditary  title  to 


DAVID— I.    HIS    TRIBE  AND  DYNASTY  135 

its  special  privileges ;  it  was  therefore  natural  that  a 
hereditary  qualification  should  be  thought  necessary 
for  the  kings.  They  represented  the  nation  ;  they  were 
the  Divinely  appointed  guardians  of  its  religion  ;  they 
became  in  time  the  types  of  the  Messiah,  its  promised 
Saviour.  In  all  this  Saul  and  Ishbosheth  had  neither 
part  nor  lot ;  the  promise  to  Israel  had  always  descended 
in  a  direct  line,  and  the  special  promise  that  was  given 
to  its  kings  and  through  them  to  their  people  began 
with  David.  There  was  no  need  to  carry  the  history 
further  back. 

We  have  already  noticed  that,  in  spite  of  this  general 
attitude  towards  Saul,  the  genealogy  of  some  of  his 
descendants  is  given  twice  over  in  the  earlier  chapters. 
No  doubt  the  chronicler  made  this  concession  to  gratify 
friends  or  to  conciliate  an  influential  family.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  how  personal  feeling  may  interfere 
with  the  symmetrical  development  of  a  theological 
theory.  At  the  same  time  we  are  enabled  to  discern 
a  practical  reason  for  rigidly  ignoring  the  kingship  of 
Saul  and  Ishbosheth.  To  have  recognised  Saul  as  the 
Lord's  anointed,  like  David,  would  have  complicated 
contemporary  dogmatics,  and  might  possibly  have  given 
rise  to  jealousies  between  the  descendants  of  Saul  and 
those  of  David.  Within  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
Jewish  community  such  quarrels  might  have  been 
inconvenient  and  even  dangerous. 

The  reasons  for  denying  the  legitimacy  of  the 
northern  kings  were  obvious  and  conclusive.  Success- 
ful rebels  who  had  destroyed  the  political  and  religious 
unity  of  Israel  could  not  inherit  "  the  sure  mercies  of 
David  "  or  be  included  in  the  covenant  which  secured 
the  permanence  of  his  dynasty. 

The  exclusive  association  of  Messianic  ideas  with  a 


136  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

single  family  emphasises  their  antiquity,  continuity, 
and  development.  The  hope  of  Israel  had  its  roots 
deep  in  the  history  of  the  people  ;  it  had  grown  with 
their  growth  and  maintained  itself  through  their 
changing  fortunes.  As  the  hope  centred  in  a  single 
family,  men  were  led  to  expect  an  individual  personal 
Messiah  ;  they  were  being  prepared  to  see  in  Christ 
the  fulfilment  of  all  righteousness. 

But  the  choice  of  the  house  of  David  involved  the 
choice  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  the  rejection  of  the  king- 
dom of  Samaria.  The  ten  tribes,  as  well  as  the  kings  of 
Israel,  had  cut  themselves  off  both  from  the  Temple  and 
the  sacred  dynasty,  and  therefore  from  the  covenant  into 
which  Jehovah  had  entered  with  "  the  man  after  his 
own  heart."  Such  a  limitation  of  the  chosen  people  was 
suggested  by  many  precedents.  Chronicles,  following 
the  Pentateuch,  tells  how  the  call  came  to  Abraham, 
but  only  some  of  the  descendants  of  one  of  his  sons 
inherited  the  promise.  Why  should  not  a  selection  be 
made  from  among  the  sons  of  Jacob  ?  But  the  twelve 
tribes  had  been  explicitly  and  solemnly  included  in  the 
unity  of  Israel,  largely  through  David  himself.  The 
glory  of  David  and  Solomon  consisted  in  their  sove- 
reignty over  a  united  people.  The  national  recollection 
of  this  golden  age  loved  to  dwell  on  the  union  of  the 
twelve  tribes.  The  Pentateuch  added  legal  sanction  to 
ancient  sentiment.  The  twelve  tribes  were  associated 
together  in  national  lyrics,  like  the  **  Blessing  of  Jacob  " 
and  the  ''  Blessing  of  Moses."  The  song  of  Deborah 
told  how  the  northern  tribes  "  came  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord  against  the  mighty."  ■  It  was  simply  impossible 
for  the  chronicler  to  absolutely  repudiate  the  ten  tribes ; 
and  so  they  are  formally  included  in  the  genealogies  of 
Israel,  and  are  recognised  in  the  history  of  David  and 


DAVID— I.   HIS    TRIBE  AND  DYNASTY  137 

Solomon.  Then  the  recognition  stops.  From  the  time 
of  the  disruption  the  northern  kingdom  is  quietly  but 
persistently  ignored.  Its  prophets  and  sanctuaries  were 
as  illegitimate  as  its  kings.  The  great  struggle  of  Elijah 
and  Elisha  for  the  honour  of  Jehovah  is  omitted,  with 
all  the  rest  of  their  history.  Elijah  is  only  mentioned 
as  sending  a  letter  to  Jehoram,  king  of  Judah ;  Elisha 
is  never  even  named. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  more  than  once  implied  that 
Judah,  with  the  Levites,  and  the  remnants  of  Simeon 
and  Benjamin,  are  the  true  Israel.  When  Rehoboam 
"  was  strong  he  forsook  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  all 
Israel  with  him."  After  Shishak's  invasion,  "  the  princes 
of  Israel  and  the  king  humbled  themselves."^  The 
annals  of  Manasseh,  king  of  Judah,  are  said  to  be 
"written  among  the  acts  of  the  kings  of  Israel."^  The 
register  of  the  exiles  who  returned  with  Zerubbabel  is 
headed  "  The  number  of  the  men  of  the  people  of 
Israel."  ^  The  chronicler  tacitly  anticipates  the  position 
of  St.  Paul :  "  They  are  not  all  Israel  which  are  of 
Israel";  and  the  Apostle  might  have  appealed  to 
Chronicles  to  show  that  the  majority  of  Israel  might 
fail  to  recognise  and  accept  the  Divine  purpose  for 
Israel,  and  that  the  true  Israel  would  then  be  found  in 
an  elect  remnant.  The  Jews  of  the  second  Temple 
naturally  and  inevitably  came  to  ignore  the  ten  tribes  and 
to  regard  themselves  as  constituting  this  true  Israel.  As 
a  matter  of  history,  there  had  been  a  period  during  which 
the  prophets  of  Samaria  were  of  far  more  importance  to 
the  religion  of  Jehovah  than  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  ; 
but  in  the  chronicler's  time  the  very  existence  of  the 
ten  tribes  was  ancient    history.      Then,    at    any  rate, 

'  2  Chron.  xii.  1,6.  ^2  Chron.  xxxiii.  18. 

^  Ezra  ii.  2. 


138  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

it  was  true  that  God's  Israel  was  to  be  found  in  the 
Jewish  community,  at  and  around  Jerusalem.  They 
inherited  the  religious  spirit  of  their  fathers,  and  re- 
ceived from  them  the  sacred  writings  and  traditions, 
and  carried  on  the  sacred  ritual.  They  preserved  the 
truth  and  transmitted  it  from  generation  to  generation, 
till  at  last  it  was  merged  in  the  mightier  stream  of 
Christian  revelation. 

The  attitude  of  the  chronicler  towards  the  prophets 
of  the  northern  kingdom  does  not  in  any  way  represent 
the  actual  importance  of  these  prophets  to  the  religion 
of  Israel  ;  but  it  is  a  very  striking  expression  of  the 
fact  that  after  the  Captivity  the  ten  tribes  had  long 
ceased  to  exercise  any  influence  upon  the  spiritual  life 
of  their  nation. 

The  chronicler's  attitude  is  also  open  to  criticism  on 
another  side.  He  is  dominated  by  his  own  surround- 
ings, and  in  his  references  to  the  Judaism  of  his  own 
time  there  is  no  formal  recognition  of  the  Jewish 
community  in  Babylon ;  and  yet  even  his  own  casual 
allusions  confirm  what  we  know  from  other  sources, 
namely  that  the  wealth  and  learning  of  the  Jews  in 
Babylon  were  an  important  factor  in  Judaism  until  a 
very  late  date.  This  point  perhaps  rather  concerns 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  than  Chronicles,  but  it  is  closely 
connected  with  our  present  subject,  and  is  most 
naturally  treated  along  with  it.  The  chronicler  might 
have  justified  himself  by  saying  that  the  true  home  of 
Israel  must  be  in  Palestine,  and  that  a  community  in 
Babylon  could  only  be  considered  as  subsidiary  to  the 
nation  in  its  own  home  and  worshipping  at  the  Temple. 
Such  a  sentiment,  at  any  rate,  would  have  met  with 
universal  approval  amongst  Palestinian  Jews.  The 
chronicler  might  also  have  replied   that    the  Jews   in 


DAVID— I.    HIS    TRIBE  AND  DYNASTY  139 

Babylon  belonged  to  Judah  and  Benjamin  and  were 
sufficiently  recognised  in  the  general  prominence  given 
to  these  tribes.  In  all  probability  some  Palestinian 
Jews  would  have  been  willing  to  class  their  Babylonian 
kinsmen  with  the  ten  tribes.  Voluntary  exiles  from 
the  Temple,  the  Holy  City,  and  the  Land  of  Promise 
had  in  great  measure  cut  themselves  off  from  the  full 
privileges  of  the  people  of  Jehovah.  If,  however,  we 
had  a  Babylonian  book  of  Chronicles,  we  should  see 
both  Jerusalem  and  Babylon  in  another  light. 

The  chronicler  was  possessed  and  inspired  by  the 
actual  living  present  round  about  him  ;  he  was  con- 
tent to  let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead.  He  was 
probably  inclined  to  believe  that  the  absent  are  mostly 
wrong,  and  that  the  men  who  worked  with  him  for 
the  Lord  and  His  temple  were  the  true  Israel  and 
the  Church  of  God.  He  was  enthusiastic  in  his  own 
vocation  and  loyal  to  his  brethren.  If  his  interests 
were  somewhat  narrowed  by  the  urgency  of  present 
circumstances,  most  men  suffer  from  the  same  limita- 
tions. Few  Englishmen  realise  that  the  battle  of 
Agincourt  is  part  of  the  history  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  Canterbury  Cathedral  is  a  monument  of  certain 
stages  in  the  growth  of  the  religion  of  New  England. 
We  are  not  altogether  willing  to  admit  that  these 
voluntary  exiles  from  our  Holy  Land  belong  to  the 
true  Anglo-Saxon  Israel. 

Churches  are  still  apt  to  ignore  their  obligations  to 
teachers  who,  like  the  prophets  of  Samaria,  seem 
to  have  been  associated  with  alien  or  hostile  branches 
of  the  family  of  God.  A  religious  movement  which 
fails  to  secure  for  itself  a  permanent  monument  is 
usually  labelled  heresy.  If  it  has  neither  obtained 
recognition  within  the  Church  nor  yet  organised  a  sect 


I40  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

for  itself,  its  services  are  forgotten  or  denied.  Even 
the  orthodoxy  of  one  generation  is  sometimes  con- 
temptuous of  the  older  orthodoxy  which  made  it 
possible ;  and  yet  Gnostics,  Arians  and  Athanasians, 
Arminians  and  Calvinists,  have  all  done  something  to 
build  up  the  temple  of  faith. 

The  nineteenth  centur}^  prides  itself  on  a  more  liberal 
spirit.  But  Romanist  historians  are  not  eager  to 
acknowledge  the  debt  of  their  Church  to  the  Reformers  ; 
and  there  are  Protestant  partisans  who  deny  that  we 
are  the  heirs  of  the  Christian  life  and  thought  of  the 
mediaeval  Church  and  are  anxious  to  trace  the  genealogy 
of  pure  religion  exclusively  through  a  supposed  suc- 
cession of  obscure  and  half-mythical  sects.  Limitations 
like  those  of  the  chronicler  still  narrow  the  sympathies 
of  earnest  and  devout  Christians. 

But  it  is  time  to  return  to  the  more  positive  aspects 
of  the  teaching  of  Chronicles,  and  to  see  how  far  we 
have  already  traced  its  exposition  of  the  Messianic 
idea.  The  plan  of  the  book  implies  a  spiritual  claim 
on  behalf  of  the  Jewish  community  of  the  Restoration. 
Because  they  believed  in  Jehovah,  whose  providence 
had  in  former  times  controlled  the  destinies  of  Israel, 
they  returned  to  their  ancestral  home  that  they  might 
serve  and  worship  the  God  of  their  fathers.  Their 
faith  survived  the  ruin  of  Judah  and  their  own  captivity  ; 
they  recognised  the  power,  and  wisdom,  and  love  of  God 
ahke  in  the  prosperity  and  in  the  misfortunes  of  their 
race.  "  They  believed  God,  and  it  was  counted  unto 
them  for  righteousness."  The  great  prophet  of  the 
Restoration  had  regarded  this  new  Israel  as  itself  a 
Messianic  people,  perhaps  even  **  a  light  to  the  Gentiles" 
and   "  salvation    unto   the  ends   of  the   earth."  ^     The 

'   Isa.  xlix.  6. 


DAVID— I.    HIS    TRIBE  AND  DYNASTY  141 

chronicler's  hopes  were  more  modest ;  the  new  Jeru- 
salem had  been  seen  by  the  prophet  as  an  ideal  vision  ; 
the  historian  knew  it  by  experience  as  an  imperfect 
human  society  :  but  he  believed  none  the  less  in  its  high 
spiritual  vocation  and  prerogatives.  He  claimed  the 
future  for  those  who  were  able  to  trace  the  hand  of  God 
in  their  past. 

Under  the  monarchy  the  fortunes  of  Jerusalem  had 
been  bound  up  with  those  of  the  house  of  David. 
The  chronicler  brings  out  all  that  was  best  in  the 
history  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Judah,  that  this  ideal 
picture  of  the  state  and  its  rulers  might  encourage 
and  inspire  to  future  hope  and  effort.  The  character 
and  achievements  of  David  and  his  successors  were 
of  permanent  significance.  The  grace  and  favour 
accorded  to  them  symbolised  the  Divine  promise  for 
the  future,  and  this  promise  was  to  be  realised  through 
a  Son  of  David, 


CHAPTER    III 

DAVID ~n.  HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY 

IN  order  to  understand  why  the  chronicler  entirely 
recasts  the  graphic  and  candid  history  of  David 
given  in  the  book  of  Samuel,  we  have  to  consider  the 
place  that  David  had  come  to  fill  in  Jewish  religion. 
It  seems  probable  that  among  the  sources  used  by  the 
author  of  the  book  of  Samuel  was  a  history  of  David, 
written  not  long  after  his  death,  by  some  one  familiar 
with  the  inner  life  of  the  court.  "  No  one,"  says  the 
proverb,  "  is  an  hero  to  his  valet "  ;  very  much  what  a 
valet  is  to  a  private  gentleman  courtiers  are  to  a  king  : 
their  knowledge  of  their  master  approaches  to  the 
familiarity  which  breeds  contempt.  Not  that  David 
was  ever  a  subject  for  contempt  or  less  than  an  hero 
even  to  his  own  courtiers  ;  but  they  knew  him  as  a 
very  human  hero,  great  in  his  vices  as  well  as  in  his 
virtues,  daring  in  battle  and  wise  in  counsel,  sometimes 
also  reckless  in  sin,  yet  capable  of  unbounded  repent- 
ance, loving  not  wisely,  but  too  well.  And  as  they 
knew  him,  so  they  described  him  ;  and  their  picture  is 
an  immortal  possession  for  all  students  of  sacred  life 
and  literature.  But  it  is  not  the  portrait  of  a  Messiah  ; 
when  we  think  of  the  "  Son  of  David,"  we  do  not  want 
to  be  reminded  of  Bath-sheba. 

During  the  six  or  seven  centuries  that  elapsed  be- 
142 


DAVID-II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  143 

tween  the  death  of  David  and  the  chronicler,  the  name 
of  David  had  come  to  have  a  symboHc  meaning, 
which  was  largely  independent  of  the  personal  character 
and  career  of  the  actual  king.  His  reign  had  become 
idealised  by  the  magic  of  antiquity ;  it  was  a  glory  of 
'*  the  good  old  times."  His  own  sins  and  failures  were 
obscured  by  the  crimes  and  disasters  of  later  kings. 
And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  its  shortcomings,  the  "  house  of 
David  "  still  remained  the  symbol  alike  of  ancient  glory 
and  of  future  hopes.  We  have  seen  from  the  genea- 
logies how  intimate  the  connection  was  between  the 
family  and  its  founder.  Ephraim  and  Benjamin  may 
mean  either  patriarchs  or  tribes.  A  Jew  was  not 
always  anxious  to  distinguish  between  the  family  and 
the  founder.  **  David "  and  *'  the  house  of  David " 
became  almost  interchangeable  terms. 

Even  the  prophets  of  the  eighth  century  connect  the 
future  destiny  of  Israel  with  David  and  his  house. 
The  child,  of  whom  Isaiah  prophesied,  was  to  sit  "  upon 
the  throne  of  David "  and  be  "  over  his  kingdom,  to 
establish  it  and  to  uphold  it  with  judgment  and  with 
righteousness  from  henceforth  even  for  ever."^  And, 
again,  the  king  who  is  to  "sit  ...  in  truth,  .  .  .  judging, 
and  seeking  judgment,  and  swift  to  do  righteousness," 
is  to  have  "his  throne  .  .-.  established  in  mercy  in  the 
tent  of  David."  ^  When  Sennacherib  attacked  Jeru- 
salem, the  city  was  defended  ^  for  Jehovah's  own  sake 
and  for  His  servant  David's  sake.  In  the  word  of  the 
Lord  that  came  to  Isaiah  for  Hezekiah,  David  super- 
sedes, as  it  were,  the  sacred  fathers  of  the  Hebrew 
race ;  Jehovah  is  not  spoken  of  as  "  the  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,"  but  "the  God  of  David."* 

'   Isa.  ix.  7.  3  jgjj   xxxvii.  35. 

-  Isa.  xvi.  5.  -i  Isa.  xxxviii.  5. 


144  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

As  founder  of  the  dynasty,  he  takes  rank  with  the 
founders  of  the  race  and  rehgion  of  Israel :  he  is  "  the 
patriarch  David."  ^  The  northern  prophet  Hosea 
looks  forward  to  the  time  when  "  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  return,  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God  and  David 
their  king "  ^ ;  when  Amos  wishes  to  set  forth  the 
future  prosperity  of  Israel,  he  says  that  the  Lord  "will 
raise  up  the  tabernacle  of  David "  ^ ;  in  Micah  "  the 
ruler  in  Israel"  is  to  come  forth  from  Bethlehem 
Ephrathah,  the  birthplace  of  David  * ;  in  Jeremiah 
such  references  to  David  are  frequent,  the  most 
characteristic  being  those  relating  to  the  "  righteous 
branch,  whom  the  Lord  will  raise  up  unto  David,"  who 
"  shall  reign  as  king  and  deal  wisely,  and  shall  execute 
judgment  and  justice  in  the  land,  in  whose  days  Judah 
shall  be  saved,  and  Israel  shall  dwell  safely"*;  in 
Ezekiel  *'  My  servant  David  "  is  to  be  the  shepherd  and 
prince  of  Jehovah's  restored  and  reunited  people*'; 
Zechariah,  writing  at  what  we  may  consider  the  begin- 
ning of  the  chronicler's  own  period,  follows  the  language 
of  his  predecessors  :  he  applies  Jeremiah's  prophecy  of 
"  the  righteous  branch  "  to  Zerubbabel,  the  prince  of 
the  house  of  David  ^ :  similarly  in  Haggai  Zerubbabel 
is  the  chosen  of  Jehovah  ^ ;  in  the  appendix  to  Zechariah 
it  is  said  that  when  "  the  Lord  defends  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  "  "  the  house  of  David  shall  be  as  God, 
as  the  angel  of  the  Lord  before  them,"^     In  the  later 

'  Acts  ii.  29,  ^  Amos  ix.  II. 

2  Hos.  iii.  5.  ■*  Micah  v.  2. 

*  Jer.  xxiii.  5,  6;  cf.  xxxiii.  15  and  Isa.  iv.  2,  xi.  i.     The  Hebrew 
word  used  in  the  last  passage  is  different  from  that  in  the  preceding, 

'  Ezek.  xxxiv.  23,  24;  xxxvii.  24,  25. 

'  Zech.  iii.  8 ;  the  text  in  vi.  12  is  probably  corrupt. 

*  Hag.  ii.  23. 
"  Zech.  xii.  8. 


DAVID— II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  145 

literature,  Biblical  and  apocryphal,  the  Davidic  origin 
of  the  Messiah  is  not  conspicuous  till  it  reappears  in 
the  Psalms  of  Solomon  ^  and  the  New  Testament,  but 
the  idea  had  not  necessarily  been  dormant  meanwhile. 
The  chronicler  and  his  school  studied  and  meditated 
on  the  sacred  writings,  and  must  have  been  familiar 
with  this  doctrine  of  the  prophets.  The  interest  in 
such  a  subject  would  not  be  confined  to  scholars. 
Doubtless  the  downtrodden  people  cherished  with  ever- 
growing ardour  the  glorious  picture  of  the  Davidic 
king.  In  the  synagogues  it  was  not  only  Moses,  but 
the  Prophets,  that  were  read ;  and  they  could  never 
allow  the  picture  of  the  Messianic  king  to  grow  faint 
and  pale.  ^ 

David's  name  v/as  also  famihar  as  the  author  of  many 
psalms.  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  would  often 
hear  them  sung  at  the  Temple,  and  they  were  probably 
used  for  private  devotion.  In  this  way  especially  the 
name  of  David  had  become  associated  with  the  deepest 
and  purest  spiritual  experiences. 

This  brief  survey  shows  how  utterly  impossible  it 
was  for  the  chronicler  to  transfer  the  older  narrative 
bodily  from  the  book  of  Samuel  to  his  own  pages. 
Large  omissions  were  absolutely  necessary.  He  could 
not  sit  down  in  cold  blood  to  tell  his  readers  that  the 
man  whose  name  they  associated  with  the  most  sacred 
memories  and  the  noblest  hopes  of  Israel  had  been 
guilty  of  treacherous  murder,  and  had  offered  himself 
to  the  Philistines  as  an  ally  against  the  people  of 
Jehovah. 

From  this  point  of  view  let  us  consider  the  chronicler's 
omissions  somewhat  more  in  detail.     In  the  first  place, 

'  Written  after  the  death  of  Pompey. 

'"'  Schultz,  Old  Testament  Theology,  ii.  444. 

10 


146  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

with  one  or  two  slight  exceptions,  he  omits  the  whole 
of  David's  life  before  his  accession  to  the  throne,  for 
two  reasons :  partly  because  he  is  anxious  that  his 
readers  should  think  of  David  as  king,  the  anointed 
of  Jehovah,  the  Messiah ;  partly  that  they  may  not  be 
reminded  of  his  career  as  an  outlaw  and  a  freebooter 
and  of  his  alliance  with  the  Philistines.'  It  is  probably 
only  an  unintentional  result  of  this  omission  that  it 
enables  the  chronicler  to  ignore  the  important  services 
rendered  to  David  by  Abiathar,  whose  family  were  rivals 
of  the  house  of  Zadok  in  the  priesthood. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  events  of  David's 
reign  at  Hebron  and  his  struggle  with  Ishbosheth  are 
omitted  because  the  chronicler  does  not  recognise 
Ishbosheth  as  a  legitimate  king.  The  x)mission  would 
also  commend  itself  because  this  section  contains  the 
account  of  Joab's  murder  of  Abner  and  David's  inability 
to  do  more  than  protest  against  the  crime.  **  I  am 
this  day  weak,  though  anointed  king ;  and  these  men 
the  sons  of  Zeruiah  are  too  hard  for  me,"  ^  are  scarcely 
words  that  become  an  ideal  king. 

The  next  point  to  notice  is  one  of  those  significant 
alterations  that  mark  the  chronicler's  industry  as  a 
redactor.  In  2  Sam.  v.  2i  we  read  that  after  the 
Philistines  had  been  defeated  at  Baal-perazim  they  left 
their  images  there,  and  David  and  his  men  took  them 
away.  Why  did  they  take  them  away  ?  What  did 
David  and  his  men  want  with  images  ?  Missionaries 
bring  home  images  as  trophies,  and  exhibit  them  trium- 
phantly, like  soldiers  who  have  captured  the  enemy's 
standards.  No  one,  not  even  an  unconverted  native, 
supposes  that  they  have  been  brought  away  to  be  used 

'  An  incidental  reference  is  made  to  these  facts  in  i  Chron.  xii.  19. 
^  2  Sam.  iii.  39. 


DAVID-II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  147 

in  worship.  But  the  worship  of  images  was  no  im- 
probable apostacy  on  the  part  of  an  Israehte  king. 
The  chronicler  felt  that  these  ambiguous  words  were 
open  to  misconstruction ;  so  he  tells  us  what  he 
assumes  to  have  been  their  ultimate  fate  :  "  And  they 
left  their  gods  there ;  and  David  gave  commandment, 
and  they  were  burnt  with  fire."^ 

The  next  omission  was  obviously  a  necessary  one;  it  is 
the  incident  of  Uriah  and  Bath-sheba.  The  name  Bath- 
sheba  never  occurs  in  Chronicles.  When  it  is  neces- 
sary to  mention  the  mother  of  Solomon,  she  is  called 
Bath-shua,  possibly  in  order  that  the  disgraceful  incident 
might  not  be  suggested  even  by  the  use  of  the  name. 
The  New  Testament  genealogies  differ  in  this  matter 
in  somewhat  the  same  way  as  Samuel  and  Chronicles. 
St.  Matthew  expressly  mentions  Uriah's  wife  as  an 
ancestress  of  our  Lord,  but  St.  Luke  does  not  mention 
her  or  any  other  ancestress. 

The  next  omission  is  equally  extensive  and  important. 
It  includes  the  whole  series  of  events  connected  with 
the  revolt  of  Absalom,  from  the  incident  of  Tamar  to 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  of  Sheba  the  son  of 
Bichri.  Various  motives  may  have  contributed  to  this 
omission.  The  narrative  contains  unedifying  incidents, 
which  are  passed  over  as  lightly  as  possible  by  modern 
writers  like  Stanley.  It  was  probably  a  relief  to  the 
chronicler  to  be  able  to  omit  them  altogether.  There 
is  no  heinous  sin  like  the  murder  of  Uriah,  but  the 
story  leaves  a  general  impression  of  great  weakness  on 
David's  part.  Joab  murders  Amasa  as  he  had  murdered 
Abner,  and  this  time  there  is  no  record  of  any  protest 
even  on    the  part  of  David.     But   probably  the    main 

'  2  Sam.  V.  21  ;   i  Chron.  xiv.  12. 


148  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

reason  for  the  omission  of  this  narrative  is  that  it  mars 
the  ideal  picture  of  David's  power  and  dignity  and  the 
success  and  prosperity  of  his  reign. 

The  touching  story  of  Rizpah  is  omitted  ;  the  hanging 
of  her  sons  does  not  exhibit  David  in  a  very  amiable 
light.  The  Gibeonites  propose  that  "  they  shall  hang 
them  up  unto  the  Lord  in  Gibeah  of  Saul,  the  chosen 
of  the  Lord,"  and  David  accepts  the  proposal.  This 
punishment  of  the  children  for  the  sin  of  their  father 
was  expressly  against  the  Law  ^ ;  and  the  whole  incident 
was  perilously  akin  to  human  sacrifice.  How  could 
they  be  hung  up  before  Jehovah  in  Gibeah  unless 
there  was  a  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  in  Gibeah  ?  And 
why  should  Saul  at  such  a  time  and  in  such  a  connec- 
tion be  called  emphatically  "  the  chosen  of  Jehovah  "  ? 
On  many  grounds,  it  was  a  passage  which  the  chronicler 
would  be  glad  to  omit. 

In  2  Sam.  xxi.  15-17  we  are  told  that  David  waxed 
faint  and  had  to  be  rescued  by  Abishai.  This  is  omitted 
by  Chronicles  probably  because  it  detracts  from  the 
character  of  David  as  the  ideal  hero.  The  next  para- 
graph in  Samuel  also  tended  to  depreciate  David's 
prowess.  It  stated  that  Goliath  was  slain  by  Elhanan. 
The  chronicler  introduces  a  correction.  It  was  not 
Goliath  whom  Elhanan  slew,  but  Lahmi,  the  brother  of 
Goliath.  However,  the  text  in  Samuel  is  evidently 
corrupt ;  and  possibly  this  is  one  of  the  cases  in  which 
Chronicles  has  preserved  the  correct  text.^ 

Then  follow  two  omissions  that  are  not  easily 
accounted  for.  2  Sam.  xxii.,  xxiii.,  contain  two  psalms, 
Psalm  xviii.  and  "  the  Last  Words  of  David,"  the  latter 
not  included  in  the  Psalter.     These  psalms  are  generally 

'  Deut.  xxiv.  16,  quoted  in  2  Chron.  xxv.  4. 
''  2  Sam.  xxi.  19;  i  Chron.  xx.  5. 


DAVID— II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  149 

considered  a  late  addition  to  the  book  of  Samuel,  and 
it  is  barely  possible  that  they  were  not  in  the  copy 
used  by  the  chronicler ;  but  the  late  date  of  Chronicles 
makes  against  this  supposition.  The  psalms  may  be 
omitted  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  and  yet  elsewhere  a 
long  cento  of  passages  from  post-Exilic  psalms  is  added 
to  the  material  derived  from  the  book  of  Samuel. 
Possibly  something  in  the  omitted  section  jarred  upon 
the  theological  sensibilities  of  the  chronicler,  but  it  is 
not  clear  what.  He  does  not  as  a  rule  look  below  the 
surface  for  obscure  suggestions  of  undesirable  views. 
The  grounds  of  his  alterations  and  omissions  are  usually 
sufficiently  obvious  ;  but  these  particular  omissions 
are  not  at  present  susceptible  of  any  obvious  explana- 
tion. Further  research  into  the  theology  of  Judaism 
may  perhaps  provide  us  with  one  hereafter. 

Finally,  the  chronicler  omits  the  attempt  of  Adonijah 
to  seize  the  throne,  and  David's  dying  commands  to 
Solomon.  The  opening  chapters  of  the  book  of  Kings 
present  a  graphic  and  pathetic  picture  of  the  closing- 
scenes  of  David's  life.  The  king  is  exhausted  with  old 
age.  His  authoritative  sanction  to  the  coronation  of 
Solomon  is  only  obtained  when  he  has  been  roused 
and  directed  by  the  promptings  and  suggestions  of  the 
women  of  his  harem.  The  scene  is  partly  a  parallel 
and  partly  a  contrast  to  the  last  days  of  Queen 
Elizabeth ;  for  when  her  bodily  strength  failed,  the 
obstinate  Tudor  spirit  refused  to  be  guided  by  the  sug- 
gestions of  her  courtiers.  The  chronicler  was  depicting 
a  person  of  almost  Divine  dignity,  in  whom  incidents 
of  human  weakness  would  have  been  out  of  keeping; 
and  therefore  they  are  omitted. 

David's  charge  to  Solomon  is  equally  human. 
Solomon    is    to    make    up    for    David's  weakness    and 


ISO  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

undue  generosity  by  putting  Joab  and  Shimei  to  death  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  he  is  to  pay  David's  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  son  of  Barzillai.  But  the  chronicler  felt  that 
David's  mind  in  those  last  days  must  surely  have  been 
occupied  with  the  temple  which  Solomon  was  to  build, 
and  the  less  edifying  charge  is  omitted. 

Constantine  is  reported  to  have  said  that,  for  the 
honour  of  the  Church,  he  would  conceal  the  sin  of  a 
bishop  with  his  own  imperial  purple.  David  was  more 
to  the  chronicler  than  the  whole  Christian  episcopate 
to  Constantine.  His  life  of  David  is  compiled  in  the 
spirit  and  upon  the  principles  of  lives  of  saints  gene- 
rally, and  his  omissions  are  made  in  perfect  good 
faith. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  positive  picture  of  David  as 
it  is  drawn  for  us  in  Chronicles.  Chronicles  would  be 
published  separately,  each  copy  written  out  on  a  roll 
of  its  own.  There  may  have  been  Jews  who  had 
Chronicles,  but  not  Samuel  and  Kings,  and  who  knew 
nothing  about  David  except  what  they  learned  from 
Chronicles.  Possibly  the  chronicler  and  his  friends 
would  recommend  the  work  as  suitable  for  the  education 
of  children  and  the  instruction  of  the  common  people. 
It  would  save  its  readers  from  being  perplexed  by  the 
rehgious  difficulties  suggested  by  Samuel  and  Kings. 
There  were  many  obstacles,  however,  to  the  success  of 
such  a  scheme ;  the  persecutions  of  Antiochus  and  the 
wars  of  the  Maccabees  took  the  leadership  out  of  the 
hands  of  scholars  and  gave  it  to  soldiers  and  statesmen. 
The  latter  perhaps  felt  more  drawn  to  the  real  David 
than  to  the  ideal,  and  the  new  priestly  dynasty  would 
not  be  anxious  to  emphasise  the  Messianic  hopes  of  the 
house  of  David.  But  let  us  put  ourselves  for  a  moment 
in  the  position  of  a  student  of  Hebrew  history  who 


DAVID— II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  151 

reads  of  David  for  the  first  time  in  Chronicles  and  has 
no  other  source  of  information. 

Our  first  impression  as  we  read  the  book  is  that 
David  comes  into  the  history  as  abruptly  as  Elijah  or 
Melchizedek.  Jehovah  slew  Saul  "  and  turned  the 
kingdom  unto  David  the  son  of  Jesse."  ^  Apparently 
the  Divine  appointment  is  promptly  and  enthusiastically 
accepted  by  the  nation  ;  all  the  twelve  tribes  come  at 
once  in  their  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands  to  Hebron 
to  make  David  king.  They  then  march  straight  to 
Jerusalem  and  take  it  by  storm,  and  forthwith  attempt 
to  bring  up  the  Ark  to  Zion.  An  unfortunate  accident 
necessitates  a  delay  of  three  months,  but  at  the  end 
of  that  time  the  Ark  is  solemnly  installed  in  a  tent  at 
Jerusalem.'^ 

We  are  not  told  who  David  the  son  of  Jesse  was, 
or  why  the  Divine  choice  fell  upon  him,  or  how  he 
had  been  prepared  for  his  responsible  position,  or 
how  he  had  so  commended  himself  to  Israel  as  to  be 
accepted  with  universal  acclaim.  He  must,  however, 
have  been  of  noble  family  and  high  character ;  and  it 
is  hinted  that  he  had  had  a  distinguished  career  as  a 
soldier.^  We  should  expect  to  find  his  name  in  the 
introductory  genealogies ;  and  if  we  have  read  these 
lists  of  names  with  conscientious  attention,  we  shall 
remember  that  there  are  sundry  incidental  references 
to  David,  and  that  he  was  the  seventh  son  of  Jesse,* 
who  was  descended  from  the  Patriarch  Judah,  through 
Boaz,  the  husband  of  Ruth. 

As  we  read  further  we  come  to  other  references 
which  throw  some  light  on  David's  early  career,  and 
at  the  same  time  somewhat  mar  the  symmetry  of  the 

'   I  Chron.  x.  14.  ^  i  Chron.  xi.  2. 

^  Cf.  xi.  1-9;  xii.  23-xiii.  14;  XV.  ^  I  Chron.  ii.  15. 


152  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

opening  narrative.  The  wide  discrepancy  between  the 
chronicler's  idea  of  David  and  the  account  given  by 
his  authorities  prevents  him  from  composing  his  work 
on  an  entirely  consecutive  and  consistent  plan.  ,We 
gather  that  there  was  a  time  when  David  was  in 
rebellion  against  his  predecessor,  and  maintained 
himself  at  Ziklag  and  elsewhere,  keeping  "  himself 
close,  because  of  Saul  the  son  of  Kish,"  and  even  that 
he  came  with  the  Philistines  against  Saul  to  battle, 
but  was  prevented  by  the  jealousy  of  the  Philistine 
chiefs  from  actually  fighting  against  Saul.  There  is 
nothing  to  indicate  the  occasion  or  circumstances  of 
these  events.^  But  it  appears  that  even  at  this  period, 
when  David  was  in  arms  against  the  king  of  Israel 
and  an  ally  of  the  Philistines,  he  was  the  chosen 
leader  of  Israel.  Men  flocked  to  him  from  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  Manasseh  and  Gad,  and  doubtless  from  the 
other  tribes  as  well :  "  From  day  to  day  there  came  to 
David  to  help  him,  until  it  was  a  great  host  like  the 
host  of  God."  2 

This  chapter  partly  explains  David's  popularity  after 
Saul's  death  ;  but  it  only  carries  the  mystery  a  stage 
further  back.  How  did  this  outlaw  and  apparently 
unpatriotic  rebel  get  so  strong  a  hold  on  the  affections 
of  Israel  ? 

Chap.  xii.  also  provides  material  for  plausible  ex- 
planations of  another  difficulty.  In  chap.  x.  the  army 
of  Israel  is  routed,  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  take 
to   flight,   and   the   Philistines   occupy   their  cities;    in 

'  I  Chron.  xii.  i,  19.  There  is  no  certain  indication  of  the  date 
of  the  events  in  xi.  10-25.  The  fact  that  a  "  hold  "  is  mentioned  in 
xi.  16,  as  in  xii.  8,  16,  is  not  conclusive  proof  that  they  refer  to  the 
same  period. 

^  xii.  20. 


DAVID— II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  153 

xi.  and  xii.  23-40  all  Israel  come  straightway  to 
Hebron  in  the  most  peaceful  and  unconcerned  fashion 
to  make  David  king.  Are  we  to  understand  that  his 
PhiHstine  alhes,  mindful  of  that  "great  host,  like  the 
host  of  God,"  all  at  once  changed  their  minds  and 
entirely  relinquished  the  fruits  of  their  victory  ? 

Elsewhere,  however,  we  find  a  statement  that  renders 
other  explanations  possible.  David  reigned  seven  years 
in  Hebron,^  so  that  our  first  impression  as  to  the  rapid 
sequence  of  events  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign  is 
apparently  not  correct,  and  there  was  time  in  these 
seven  years  for  a  more  gradual  expulsion  of  the  Philis- 
tines. It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  chronicler 
intended  his  original  narrative  to  be  thus  modified  and 
interpreted. 

The  main  thread  of  the  history  is  interrupted  here 
and  later  on  ^  to  insert  incidents  which  illustrate  the 
personal  courage  and  prowess  of  David  and  his  warriors. 
We  are  also  told  how  busily  occupied  David  was  during 
the  three  months'  sojourn  of  tlie  Ark  in  the  house  of 
Obed-edom  the  Gittite.  He  accepted  an  alliance  with 
Hiram,  king  of  Tyre ;  he  added  to  his  harem  ;  he 
successfully  repelled  two  inroads  of  the  Philistines, 
and  made  him  houses  in  the  city  of  David.^ 

The  narrative  returns  to  its  main  subject :  the  history 
of  the  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem.  As  soon  as  the  Ark 
was  duly  installed  in  its  tent,  and  David  was  established 
in  his  new  palace,  he  was  struck  by  the  contrast  between 
the  tent  and  the  palace  :  "  Lo,  I  dwell  in  a  house  of 
cedar,  but  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  dwelleth 
under  curtains."  He  proposed  to  substitute  a  temple 
for  the  tent,  but  was  forbidden  by  his  prophet  Nathan, 

'  I  Chron,  xxix.  27.  ^  xi.  10-47  ;  xx.  4-8.  '  xiii.  14-xvi. 


154  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

through  whom  God  promised  him  that  his  son  should 
build  the  Temple,  and  that  his  house  should  be 
established  for  ever.^ 

Then  we  read  of  the  wars,  victories,  and  conquests 
of  David.  He  is  no  longer  absorbed  in  the  defence 
of  Israel  against  the  Philistines.  He  takes  the 
aggressive  and  conquers  Gath ;  he  conquers  Edom, 
Moab,  Amnion,  and  Amalek ;  he  and  his  armies  defeat 
the  Syrians  in  several  battles,  the  Syrians  become 
tributary,  and  David  occupies  Damascus  with  a  garrison. 
"  And  the  Lord  gave  victory  to  David  whithersoever  he 
went."  The  conquered  were  treated  after  the  manner 
of  those  barbarous  times.  David  and  his  generals 
carried  off  much  spoil,  especially  brass,  and  silver,  and 
gold  ;  and  when  he  conquered  Rabbah,  the  capital  of 
Ammon,  "  he  brought  forth  the  people  that  were  therein, 
and  cut  them  with  saws,  and  with  harrows  of  iron,  and 
with  axes.  And  thus  did  David  unto  all  the  cities  of 
the  children  of  Ammon."  Meanwhile  his  home  adminis- 
tration was  as  honourable  as  his  foreign  wars  were 
glorious  :  "  He  executed  judgment  and  justice  unto  all 
his  people  " ;  and  the  government  was  duly  organised 
with  commanders  of  the  host  and  the  bodyguard,  with 
priests  and  scribes." 

Then  follows  a  mysterious  and  painful  dispensation 
of  Providence,  which  the  historian  would  gladly  have 
omitted,  if  his  respect  for  the  memory  of  his  hero  had 
not  been  overruled  by  his  sense  of  the  supreme  import- 
ance of  the  Temple.  David,  like  Job,  was  given  over 
for  a  season  to  Satan,  and  while  possessed  by  this  evil 
spirit  displeased  God  by  numbering  Israel.  His  punish- 
ment took  the  form  of  a  great  pestilence,  which  decimated 

'  xvii.  '■'  xviii. ;  xx.  3. 


DAVID— II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  155 

his  people,  until,  by  Divine  command,  David  erected  an 
altar  in  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite  and 
offered  sacrifices  upon  it,  whereupon  the  plague  was 
stayed.  David  at  once  perceived  the  significance  of 
this  incident :  Jehovah  had  indicated  the  site  of  the 
future  Temple.  *'  This  is  the  house  of  Jehovah  Elohim,^ 
and  this  is'  the  altar  of  burnt  offering  for  Israel."  ^ 

This  revelation  of  the  Divine  will  as  to  the  position 
of  the  Temple  led  David  to  proceed  at  once  with  pre- 
parations for  its  erection  by  Solomon,  which  occupied 
all  his  energies  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.^  He 
gathered  funds  and  materials,  and  gave  his  son  full 
instructions  about  the  building ;  he  organised  the 
priests  and  Levites,  the  Temple  orchestra  and  choir, 
the  doorkeepers,  treasurers,  officers,  and  judges ;  he 
also  organised  the  army,  the  tribes,  and  the  royal 
exchequer  on  the  model  of  the  corresponding  arrange- 
ments for  the  Temple. 

Then  follows  the  closing  scene  of  David's  life.  The 
sun  of  Israel  sets  amid  the  flaming  glories  of  the 
western  sky.  No  clouds  or  mists  rob  him  of  accustomed 
splendour.  David  calls  a  great  assembly  of  princes 
and  warriors ;  he  addresses  a  solemn  exhortation  to 
them  and  to  Solomon  ;  he  delivers  to  his  son  instruc- 
tions for  "  all  the  works  "  which  *'  I  have  been  made 
to  understand  in  writing  from  the  hand  of  Jehovah." 
It  is  almost  as  though  the  plans  of  the  Temple  had 
shared  with  the  first  tables  of  stone  the  honour  of  being 
written  with  the  very  finger  of  God  Himself,  and 
David  were  even  greater  than  Moses.  He  reminds 
Solomon    of  all   the    preparations    he    had  made,  and 

'  I.e.,  virtually  Jehovah  our  God  and  the  only  true  God. 

*  For  a  more  detailed  treatment  of  this  incident  see  chap.  ix. 

^  xxi.-xxix. 


156  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

appeals  to  the  princes  and  the  people  for  further  gifts ; 
and  they  render  willingly — thousands  of  talents  of 
gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and  iron.  David  offers 
prayer  and  thanksgiving  to  the  Lord :  "  And  David 
said  to  all  the  congregation,  Now  bless  Jehovah  our 
God.  And  all  the  congregation  blessed  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  their  fathers,  and  bowed  down  their  heads, 
and  worshipped  Jehovah  and  the  king.  And  they 
sacrificed  sacrifices  unto  Jehovah,  and  offered  burnt 
offerings  unto  Jehovah,  on  the  morrow  after  that  day, 
even  a  thousand  bullocks,  a  thousand  rams,  and  a 
thousand  lambs,  with  their  drink  offerings  and  sacrifices 
in  abundance  for  all  Israel,  and  did  eat  and  drink 
before  Jehovah  on  that  day  with  great  gladness.  And 
they  made  Solomon  king ;  .  .  .  and  David  died  in  a 
good  old  age,  full  of  days,  riches,  and  honour,  and 
Solomon  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead."  ^ 

The  Roman  expressed  his  idea  of  a  becoming  death 
more  simply  :  "An  emperor  should  die  standing."  The 
chronicler  has  given  us  the  same  view  at  greater  length  ; 
this  is  how  the  chronicler  would  have  wished  to  die  if 
he  had  been  David,  and  how,  therefore,  he  conceives 
that  God  honoured  the  last  hours  of  the  man  after  His 
ov/n  heart. 

It  is  a  strange  contrast  to  the  companion  picture  in 
the  book  of  Kings.  There  the  king  is  bedridden, 
dying  slowly  of  old  age ;  the  life-blood  creeps  coldly 
through  his  veins.  The  quiet  of  the  sick-room  is 
invaded  by  the  shrill  outcry  of  an  aggrieved  woman, 
and  the  dying  king  is  roused  to  hear  that  once  more 
eager  hands  are  clutching  at  his  crown.  If  the 
chronicler  has  done   nothing    else,  he  has   helped    us 

'  xxix.  20-22,  28. 


DAVID— II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  15? 

to  appreciate  better  the  gloom  and  bitterness  of  the 
tragedy  that  was  enacted  in  the  last  days  of  David. 

What  idea  does  Chronicles  give  us  of  the  man  and 
his  character  ?  He  is  first  and  foremost  a  man  of 
earnest  piety  and  deep  spiritual  feeling.  Like  the 
great  religious  leaders  of  the  chronicler's  own  time, 
his  piety  found  its  chief  expression  in  ritual.  The 
main  business  of  his  life  was  to  provide  for  the  sanctuary 
and  its  services ;  that  is,  for  the  highest  fellowship  of 
God  and  man,  according  to  the  ideas  then  current. 
But  David  is  no  mere  formalist ;  the  psalm  of  thanks- 
giving for  the  return  of  the  Ark  to  Jerusalem  is  a  worthy 
tribute  to  the  power  and  faithfulness  of  Jehovah.^  His 
prayer  after  God  had  promised  to  establish  his  dynasty 
is  instinct  with  devout  confidence  and  gratitude.^  But 
the  most  gracious  and  appropriate  of  these  Davidic 
utterances  is  his  last  prayer  and  thanksgiving  for  the 
liberal  gifts  of  the  people  for  the  Temple.^ 

Next  to  David's  enthusiasm  for  the  Temple,  his  most 
conspicuous  qualities  are  those  of  a  general  and  soldier  : 
he  has  great  personal  strength  and  courage,  and  is 
uniformly  successful  in  wars  against  numerous  and 
powerful  enemies ;  his  government  is  both  able  and 
upright ;  his  great  powers  as  an  organiser  and  adminis- 
trator are  exercised  both  in  secular  and  ecclesiastical 
matters ;  in  a  word,  he  is  in  more  senses  than  one 
an  ideal  king. 

Moreover,  like  Alexander,  Marlborough,  Napoleon, 
and  other  epoch-making  conquerors,  he  had  a  great 
charm  of  personal  attractiveness ;  he  inspired  his 
officers  and  soldiers  with  enthusiasm  and  devotion  to 

'  xvi.  8-36. 

'^  xvii,  16-27. 

3  For  a  short  exposition  of  this  passage  see  Book.  IV.,  Chap,  i. 


iSS  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

himself.  The  pictures  of  all  Israel  flocking  to  him  in  the 
first  days  of  his  reign  and  even  earlier,  when  he  was  an 
outlaw,  are  forcible  illustrations  of  this  wonderful  gift ; 
and  the  same  feature  of  his  character  is  at  once  illus- 
trated and  partly  explained  by  the  romantic  episode  at 
Adullam.  What  greater  proof  of  affection  could  outlaws 
give  to  their  captain  than  to  risk  their  lives  to  get  him 
a  draught  of  water  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem  ?  How 
better  could  David  have  accepted  and  ratified  their 
devotion  than  by  pouring  out  this  water  as  a  most 
precious  libation  to  God  ?  ^  But  the  chronicler  gives 
most  striking  expression  to  the  idea  of  David's  popu- 
larity when  he  finally  tells  us  in  the  same  breath  that 
the  people  worshipped  Jehovah  and  the  king.^ 

In  drawing  an  ideal  picture,  our  author  has  naturally 
omitted  incidents  that  might  have  revealed  the  defects 
of  his  hero.  Such  omissions  deceive  no  one,  and  are 
not  meant  to  deceive  any  one.  Yet  David's  failings 
are  not  altogether  absent  from  this  history.  He  has 
those  vices  which  were  characteristic  alike  of  his  own 
age  and  of  the  chronicler's,  and  which  indeed  are  not 
yet  wholly  extinct.  He  could  treat  his  prisoners  with 
barbarous  cruelty.  His  pride  led  him  to  number 
Israel,  but  his  repentance  was  prompt  and  thorough ; 
and  the  incident  brings  out  alike  both  his  faith  in  God 
and  his  care  for  his  people.  When  the  whole  episode 
is  before  us,  it  does  not  lessen  our  love  and  respect  for 
David.  The  reference  to  his  alliance  with  the  Philis- 
tines is  vague  and  incidental.  If  this  were  our  only 
account  of  the  matter,  we  should  interpret  it  by  the 
rest  of  his  life,  and  conclude  that  if  all  the  facts  were 
known,  they  would  justify  his  conduct, 

1   I  Chron.  xi.  15-19.  "  xxix.  20. 


DAVID— II.    HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY  159 

In  forming  a  general  estimate  of  David  according  to 
Chronicles,  we  may  fairly  neglect  these  less  satisfactory 
episodes.  Briefly  David  is  perfect  saint  and  perfect 
king,  beloved  of  God  and  man. 

A  portrait  reveals  the  artist  as  well  as  the  model, 
and  the  chronicler  in  depicting  David  gives  indications 
of  the  morality  of  his  own  times.  We  may  deduce 
from  his  omissions  a  certain  progress  in  moral  sensi- 
tiveness. The  book  of  Samuel  emphatically  condemns 
David's  treachery  towards  Uriah,  and  is  conscious  of 
the  discreditable  nature  of  many  incidents  connected 
with  the  revolts  of  Absalom  and  Adonijah  ;  but  the 
silence  of  Chronicles  implies  an  even  severer  con- 
demnation. In  other  matters,  however,  the  chronicler 
"judges  himself  in  that  which  he  appro veth. "  ^  Of 
course  the  first  business  of  an  ancient  king  was  to 
protect  his  people  from  their  enemies  and  to  enrich 
them  at  the  expense  of  their  neighbours.  The  urgency 
of  these  duties  may  excuse,  but  not  justify,  the  neglect 
of  the  more  peaceful  departments  of  the  administration. 
The  modern  reader  is  struck  by  the  httle  stress  laid  by 
the  narrative  upon  good  government  at  home  ;  it  is 
just  mentioned,  and  that  is  about  all.  As  the  sentiment 
of  international  morality  is  even  now  only  in  its  infancy, 
we  cannot  wonder  at  its  absence  from  Chronicles ;  but 
we  are  a  little  surprised  to  find  that  cruelty  towards 
prisoners  is  included  without  comment  in  the  character 
of  the  ideal  king.^  It  is  curious  that  the  account  in  the 
book  of  Samuel  is  shghtly  ambiguous  and  might 
possibly  admit  of  a  comparatively  mild  interpretation  ; 
but  Chronicles,  according  to  the  ordinary  translation, 
says  definitely,  "  He  cut  them  with  saws."     The  mere 

'  Rom,  xiv.  22. 

-  2  Sam.  xii.  31  ;   I  Chron.  xx.  3. 


l6o  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

reproduction  of  this  passage  need  not  imply  full  and 
deliberate  approval  of  its  contents  ;  but  it  would  not 
have  been  allowed  to  remain  in  the  picture  of  the  ideal 
king,  if  the  chronicler  had  felt  an}?^  strong  conviction  as 
to  the  duty  of  humanity  towards  one's  enemies. 
Unfortunatel}'-  we  know  from  the  book  of  Esther  and 
elsewhere  that  later  Judaism  had  not  attained  to  any 
wide  enthusiasm  of  humanity. 


CHAPTER    IV 
DAVID— III.     HIS   OFFICIAL  DIGNITY 

IN  estimating  the  personal  character  of  David,  we 
have  seen  that  one  element  of  it  was  his  ideal 
kingship.  Apart  from  his  personality,  his  name  is 
significant  for  Old  Testament  theology,  as  that  of  the 
typical  king.  From  the  tim.e  when  the  royal  title 
"  Messiah  "  began  to  be  a  synonym  for  the  hope  of 
Israel,  down  to  the  period  when  the  Anglican  Church 
taught  the  Divine  right  of  kings,  and  Calvinists  insisted 
on  the  Divine  sovereignty  or  royal  authority  of  God, 
the  dignity  and  power  of  the  King  of  kings  have  always 
been  illustrated  by,  and  sometimes  associated  with,  the 
state  of  an  earthly  m.onarch — whereof  David  is  the  most 
striking  example. 

The  times  of  the  chronicler  were  favourable  to  the 
development  of  the  idea  of  the  perfect  king  of  Israel, 
the  prince  of  the  house  of  David.  There  was  no  king 
in  Israel ;  and,  as  far  as  we  can  gather,  the  living  repre- 
sentatives of  the  house  of  David  held  no  very  prominent 
position  in  the  community.  It  is  much  easier  to  draw 
a  satisfactory  picture  of  the  ideal  monarch  when  the 
imagination  is  not  checked  and  hampered  by  the  faults 
and  failings  of  an  actual  Ahaz  or  Hezekiah.  In  earlier 
times  the  prophetic  hopes  for  the  house  of  David  had 
often    been    rudely  disappointed,    but   there  had   been 

161  1 1 


1 62  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

ample  space  to  forget  the  past  and  to  revive  the  old 
hopes  in  fresh  splendour  and  magnificence.  Lack  of 
experience  helped  to  commend  the  idea  of  the  Davidic 
king  to  the  chronicler.  Enthusiasm  for  a  benevolent 
despot  is  mostly  confined  to  those  who  have  not  enjoyed 
the  privilege  of  living  under  such  autocratic  government. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  was  no  temptation  to  fllatter 
any  living  Davidic  king,  so  that  the  semi-Divine  charac- 
ter of  the  kingship  of  David  is  not  set  forth  after  the 
gross  and  almost  blasphemous  style  of  Roman  emperors 
or  Turkish  sultans.  It  is  indeed  said  that  the  people 
worshipped  Jehovah  and  the  king  ;  but  the  essential 
character  of  Jewish  thought  made  it  impossible  that 
the  ideal  king  should  sit  "  in  the  temple  of  God,  setting 
himself  forth  as  God."  David  and  Solomon  could  not 
share  with  the  pagan  emperors  the  honours  of  Divine 
worship  in  their  life-time  and  apotheosis  after  their 
death.  Nothing  addressed  to  any  Hebrew  king  parallels 
the  panegyric  to  the  Christian  emperor  Theodosius,  in 
which  allusion  is  made  to  his  "  sacred  mind,"  and  he  is 
told  that  "  as  the  Fates  are  said  to  assist  with  their 
tablets  that  God  ivho  is  the  partner  in  your  majesty,  so 
does  some  Divine  power  serve  3^our  bidding,  which 
writes  down  and  in  due  time  suggests  to  your  memory 
the  promises  which  you  have  made."^  Nor  does 
Chronicles  adorn  the  kings  of  Judah  with  extravagant 
Oriental  titles,  such  as  "  King  of  kings  of  kings  of 
kings."  Devotion  to  the  house  of  David  never  over- 
steps the  bounds  of  a  due  reverence,  but  the  Hebrew 
idea  of  monarchy  loses  nothing  by  this  salutary  reserve. 
Indeed,  the  title  of  the  royal  house  of  Judah  rested 
upon  Divine  appointment.     **  Jehovah  .   .   .  turned  the 

'  Hodgkip,  Italy  and  her  Invaders,  i.  205. 


DAVID— III.    HIS   OFFICIAL  DIGNITY  163 

kingdom  unto  David  ;  .  .  .  and  they  anointed  David 
king  over  Israel,  according  to  the  word  of  Jehovah  by 
the  hand  of  Samuel."  ^  But  the  Divine  choice  was 
confirmed  by  the  cordial  consent  of  the  nation ;  the 
sovereigns  of  Judah,  like  those  of  England,  ruled  by 
the  grace  of  God  and  the  will  of  the  people.  Even 
before  David's  accession  the  Israelites  had  flocked  to 
his  standard ;  and  after  the  death  of  Saul  a  great  array 
of  the  twelve  tribes  came  to  Hebron  to  make  David 
king,  "  and  all  the  rest  also  of  Israel  were  of  one  heart 
to  make  David  king."  ^  Similarly  Solomon  is  the  king 
"  whom  God  hath  chosen,"  and  all  the  congregation 
make  him  king  and  anoint  him  to  be  prince.^  The 
double  election  of  David  by  Jehovah  and  by  the  nation 
is  clearly  set  forth  in  the  book  of  Samuel,  and  in 
Chronicles  the  omission  of  David's  early  career  empha- 
sises this  election.  In  the  book  of  Samuel  we  are 
shown  the  natural  process  that  brought  about  the 
change  of  dynasty  ;  we  see  how  the  Divine  choice  took 
effect  through  the  wars  between  Saul  and  the  Philistines 
and  through  David's  own  ability  and  energy.  Chroni- 
cles is  mostly  silent  as  to  secondary  causes,  and  fixes 
our  attention  on  the  Divine  choice  as  the  ultimate  ground 
for  David's  elevation. 

The  authority  derived  from  God  and  the  people  con- 
tinued to  rest  on  the  same  basis.  David  sought  Divine 
direction  alike  for  the  building  of  the  Temple  and  for 
his  campaigns  against  the  Philistines.  At  the  same 
time,  when  he  wished  to  bring  up  the  Ark  to  Jerusalem, 
he  "  consulted  with  the  captains  of  thousands  and  of 
hundreds,  even  with  every  leader  ;  and  David  said  unto 
all   the  assembly  of  Israel,  If  it  seem  good  unto  you, 

'  X.  14  ;  xi.  3.  '^  xii.  38.  ^  xxix.  i,  22. 


164  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

and  if  it  be  of  Jehovah  our  God,  ...  let  us  bring  again 
the  ark  of  our  God  to  us  :  .  .  .  and  all  the  assembly 
said  that  they  would  do  so,  for  the  thing  was  right  in 
the  eyes  of  all  the  people."  ^  Of  course  the  chronicler 
does  not  intend  to  describe  a  constitutional  monarchy, 
in  which  an  assembly  of  the  people  had  any  legal 
status.  Apparently  in  his  own  time  the  Jews  exercised 
their  measure  of  local  self-government  through  an 
informal  oligarchy,  headed  by  the  high-priest ;  and 
these  authorities  occasionally  appealed  to  an  assembly 
of  the  people.  The  administration  under  the  monarchy 
was  carried  on  in  a  somewhat  similar  fashion,  only  the 
king  had  greater  authority  than  the  high-priest,  and 
the  oligarchy  of  notables  were  not  so  influential  as  the 
colleagues  of  the  latter.  But  apart  from  any  formal 
constitution  the  chronicler's  description  of  these  inci- 
dents involves  a  recognition  of  the  principle  of  popular 
consent  in  government  as  well  as  the  doctrine  that  civil 
order  rests  upon  a  Divine  sanction. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  how  a  member  of  a  great 
ecclesiastical  community,  imbued,  as  we  should  suppose, 
with  all  the  spirit  of  priestcraft,  yet  insists  upon  the 
royal  supremacy  both  in  state  and  Church.  But  to 
have  done  otherwise  would  have  been  to  go  in  the 
teeth  of  all  history ;  even  in  the  Pentateuch  the  "  king 
in  Jeshurun  "  is  greater  than  the  priest.  Moreover,  the 
chronicler  was  not  a  priest,  but  a  Levite ;  and  there  are 
indications  that  the  Levites'  ancient  jealousy  of  the 
priests  had  by  no  means  died  out.  In  Chronicles,  at 
any  rate,  there  is  no  question  of  priests  interfering 
with  the  king's  secular  administration.  They  are  not 
even    mentioned    as    obtaining   oracles    for    David   as 

'  xiii.  2-4. 


DAVID— III.    HIS   OFFICIAL  DIGNITY  165 

Abiathar  did  before  his  accession.^  This  was  doubtless 
implied  in  the  original  account  of  the  Philistine  raids 
in  chap,  xiv.,  but  the  chronicler  may  not  have  under- 
stood that  "  inquiring  of  God "  meant  obtaining  an 
oracle  from  the  priests. 

The  king  is  equally  supreme  also  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs ;  we  might  even  say  that  the  civil  authorities 
generally  shared  this  supremacy.  Somewhat  after  the 
fashion  of  Cromwell  and  his  major-generals,  David 
utilised  "  the  captains  of  the  host "  as  a  kind  of  ministry 
of  public  worship ;  they  joined  with  him  in  organising 
the  orchestra  and  choir  for  the  services  of  the  sanc- 
tuary '^ :  probably  Napoleon  and  his  marshals  would 
have  had  no  hesitation  in  selecting  anthems  for  Notre 
Dame  if  the  idea  had  occurred  to  them.  David  also  con- 
sulted his  captains,^  and  not  the  priests,  about  bringing 
the  Ark  to  Jerusalem.  When  he  gathered  the  great 
assembly  to  make  his  final  arrangements  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple,  the  princes  and  captains,  the  rulers 
and  mighty  men,  are  mentioned,  but  no  priests.*  And, 
last,  all  the  congregation  apparently  anoint'^  Zadok  to 
be  priest.  The  chronicler  was  evidently  a  pronounced 
Erastian."  David  is  no  mere  nominal  head  of  the 
Church  ;  he  takes  the  initiative  in  all  important  matters, 
and  receives  the  Divine  commands  either  directly  or 
through  his  prophets  Nathan  and  Gad.  Now  these 
prophets  are  not  ecclesiastical  authorities  ;  they  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  priesthood,  and  do  not  corre- 
spond to  the  officials  of  an  organised  Church.  They 
are  rather  the  domestic  chaplains  or  confessors  of  the 
king,  differing  from  modern  chaplains  and  confessors 
in    having    no    ecclesiastical    superiors.       They    were 

'   I  Sam.  xxiii.  9-13;  xxx.  7,  8.       ^  xiii.  I.  *  xxix.  22. 

^  XXV.  I,  2.  *  xxviii.  I.       "  But  cf.  2  Chr.  xxvi. 


i66  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

not  responsible  to  the  bishop  of  any  diocese  or  the 
general  of  any  order ;  they  did  not  manipulate  the  royal 
conscience  in  the  interests  of  any  party  in  the  Church ; 
they  served  God  and  the  king,  and  had  no  other 
masters.  They  did  not  beard  David  before  his  people, 
as  Ambrose  confronted  Theodosius  or  as  Chrysostom 
rated  Eudoxia ;  they  delivered  their  message  to  David 
in  private,  and  on  occasion  he  communicated  it  to  the 
people.^  The  king's  spiritual  dignity  is  rather  enhanced 
than  otherwise  by  this  reception  of  prophetic  mes- 
sages specially  delivered  to  himself.  There  is  another 
aspect  of  the  royal  supremacy  in  religion.  In  this  par- 
ticular instance  its  object  is  largely  the  exaltation  of 
David ;  to  arrange  for  public  worship  is  the  most 
honourable  function  of  the  ideal  king.  At  the  same 
time  the  care  of  the  sanctuary  is  his  most  sacred  duty, 
and  is  assigned  to  him  that  it  may  be  punctually  and 
worthily  discharged.  State  establishment  of  the  Church 
is  combined  with  a  very  thorough  control  of  the  Church 
by  the  state. 

We  see  then  that  the  monarchy  rested  on  Divine 
and  national  election,  and  was  guided  by  the  will  of 
God  and  of  the  people.  Indeed,  in  bringing  up  the 
Ark  ^  the  consent  of  the  people  is  the  only  recorded  in- 
dication of  the  will  of  God.  "Vox  populi  vox  Dei."  The 
king  and  his  government  are  supreme  alike  over  the 
state  and  the  sanctuary,  and  are  entrusted  with  the 
charge  of  providing  for  public  worship.  Let  us  try  to 
express  the  modern  equivalents  of  these  principles. 
Civil  government  is  of  Divine  origin,  and  should  obtain 
the  consent  of  the  people  ;  it  should  be  carried  on 
according  to  the  will   of  God,  freely  accepted  by  the 

'  Cr.  xvii.  4-15  and  xxviii.  2-IO.  '"  xiii.  I-14. 


DAVID— in.    HIS  OFFICIAL  DIGNITY  167 

nation.  The  eivil  authority  is  supreme  both  in  Church 
and  state,  and  is  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of 
pubhc  worship. 

One  at  least  of  these  principles  is  so  widely  accepted 
that  it  is  quite  independent  of  any  Scriptural  sanction 
from  Chronicles.     The  consent  of  the  people  has  long 
been  accepted  as  an  essential  condition  of  any  stable 
government.     The  sanctity  of  civil  government  and  the 
sacredness    of    its    responsibilities    are    coming   to    be 
recognised,  at  present   perhaps  rather  in  theory  than 
in  practice.     We  have  not  yet  fully  realised  how  the 
truth  underlying    the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  right    of 
kings    applies    to    modern    conditions.      Formerly    the 
king  was  the  representative  of  the  state,  or  even  the 
state  itself;    that   is  to    say,  the   king  directly  or    in- 
directly maintained  social  order,  and  provided  for  the 
security  of  life  and  property.     The  Divine  appointment 
and  authority  of  the   king    expressed   the    sanctity  -of 
law  and  order  as  the  essential  conditions  of  moral  and 
spiritual  progress.     The  king  is  no    longer  the   state. 
His    Divine   right,    however,   belongs    to    him,  not    as 
a  person    or   as    a    member   of  a    family,  but    as    the 
embodiment  of  the  state,  the  champion  of  social  order 
against    anarchy.     The  "  Divinity   that    doth    hedge  a 
king "    is    now  shared    by  the    sovereign  with  all  the 
various  departments  of  government.     The  state — that 
is  to    say,   the  community  organised  for    the  common 
good  and  for  mutual  help — is  now  to  be  recognised  as 
of   Divine    appointment    and    as    wielding    a    Divine 
authority.     "  The  Lord  has    turned  the    kingdom  to  " 
the  people. 

This  revolution  is  so  tremendous  that  it  would  not 
be  safe  to  apply  to  the  modern  state  the  remaining 
principles  of  the   chronicler.     Before   we  could   do   so 


1 68  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

we  should  need  to  enter  into  a  discussion  which  would 
be  out  of  place  here,  even  if  we  had  space  for  it. 

In  one  point  the  new  democracies  agree  with  the 
chronicler :  they  are  not  inclined  to  submit  secular 
affairs  to  the  domination  of  ecclesiastical  officials. 

The  que'stions  of  the  supremacy  of  the  state  over 
the  Church  and  of  the  state  establishment  of  the  Church 
involve  larger  and  more  complicated  issues  than  existed 
in  the  mind  or  experience  of  the  chronicler.  But  his 
picture  of  the  ideal  king  suggests  one  idea  that  is  in 
harmony  with  some  modern  aspirations.  In  Chronicles 
the  king,  as  the  representative  of  the  state,  is  the 
special  agent  in  providing  for  the  highest  spiritual 
needs  of  the  people.  May  we  venture  to  hope  that 
out  of  the  moral  consciousness  of  a  nation  united  in 
mutual  sympathy  and  service  there  may  arise  a  new 
enthusiasm  to  obey  and  worship  God  ?  Human  cruelty 
is  the  greatest  stumbling-block  to  belief  and  fellowship  ; 
when  the  state  has  somewhat  mitigated  the  misery  of 
"  man's  inhumanity  to  man/'  faith  in  God  will  be 
easier. 


CHAPTER   V 

SOLOMON 

THE  chronicler's  history  of  Solomon  is  constructed 
on  the  same  principles  as  that  of  David,  and  for 
similar  reasons.  The  builder  of  the  first  Temple  com- 
manded the  grateful  reverence  of  a  community  whose 
national  and  religious  life  centred  in  the  second  Temple. 
While  the  Davidic  king  became  the  symbol  of  the  hope 
of  Israel,  the  Jews  could  not  forget  that  this  symbol 
derived  much  of  its  significance  from  the  widespread 
dominion  and  royal  magnificence  of  Solomon.  The 
chronicler,  indeed,  attributes  great  splendour  to  the 
court  of  David,  and  ascribes  to  him  a  lion's  share  in 
the  Temple  itself.  He  provided  his  successor  with 
treasure  and  materials  and  even  the  complete  plans, 
so  that  on  the  principle,  "  Qui  facit  per  alium,  facit  per  se," 
David  might  have  been  credited  with  the  actual  build- 
ing. Solomon  was  almost  in  the  position  of  a  modern 
engineer  who  puts  together  a  steamer  that  has  been 
built  in  sections.  But,  with  all  these  limitations,  the 
clear  and  obvious  fact  remained  that  Solomon  actually 
built  and  dedicated  the  Temple.  Moreover,  the  memory 
of  his  wealth  and  grandeur  kept  a  firm  hold  on  the 
popular  imagination  ;  and  these  conspicuous  blessings 
were    received    as    certain    tokens    of    the    favour   of 

Jehovah. 

169 


lyo  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Solomon's  fame,  however,  was  threefold  :  he  was  not 
only  the  Divinely  appointed  builder  of  the  Temple  and, 
by  the  same  Divine  grace,  the  richest  and  most  powerful 
king  of  Israel  :  he  had  also  received  from  Jehovah  the 
gift  of  "  wisdom  and  knowledge."  In  his  royal  splen- 
dour and  his  sacred  buildings  he  only  differed  in  degree 
from  other  kings ;  but  in  his  wisdom  he  stood  alone, 
not  only  without  equal,  but  almost  without  competitor. 
Herein  he  was  under  no  obligation  to  his  father,  and 
the  glory  of  Solomon  could  not  be  diminished  by 
representing  that  he  had  been  anticipated  by  David. 
Hence  the  name  of  Solomon  came  to  symbolise  Hebrew 
learning  and  philosophy. 

In  religious  significance,  however,  Solomon  cannot 
rank  with  David.  The  dynasty  of  Judah  could  have 
only  one  representative,  and  the  founder  and  eponym 
of  the  royal  house  was  the  most  important  figure  for  the 
subsequent  theology.  The  interest  that  later  genera- 
tions felt  in  Solomon  lay  apart  from  the  main  line  of 
Jewish  orthodoxy,  and  he  is  never  mentioned  by  the 
prophets.^ 

Moreover,  the  darker  aspects  of  Solomon's  reign 
made  more  impression  upon  succeeding  generations 
than  even  David's  sins  and  misfortunes.  Occasional 
lapses  into  vice  and  cruelty  might  be  forgiven  or  even 
forgotten  ;  but  the  systematic  oppression  of  Solomon 
rankled  for  long  generations  in  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
and  the  prophets  always  remembered  his  wanton 
idolatry.  His  memory  was  further  discredited  by  the 
disasters  which  marked  the  close  of  his  own  reign  and 
the  beginning  of  Rehoboam's.     Centuries  later  these 


'  The  casual  reference  in  Jer.  Hi.  20  is  only  an  apparent  exception. 
The  passage  is  really  historical,  and  not  prophetic. 


SOLOMON  171 


feelings  still  prevailed.  The  prophets  who  adapted 
the  Mosaic  law  for  the  closing  period  of  the  monarchy 
exhort  the  king  to  take  warning  by  Solomon,  and  to 
multiply  neither  horses,  nor  wives,  nor  gold  and  silver.^ 

But  as  time  went  on  Judah  fell  into  growing  poverty 
and  distress,  which  came  to  a  head  in  the  Captivity, 
and  were  renewed  with  the  Restoration.  The  Jews 
were  willing  to  forget  Solomon's  faults  in  order  that 
they  might  indulge  in  fond  recollections  of  the  material 
prosperity  of  his  reign.  Their  experience  of  the  culture 
of  Babylon  led  them  to  feel  greater  interest  and  pride 
in  his  wisdom,  and  the  figure  of  Solomon  began  to 
assume  a  mysterious  grandeur,  which  has  since  become 
the  nucleus  for  Jewish  and  Mohammedan  legends. 
The  chief  monument  of  his  fame  in  Jewish  literature  is 
the  book  of  Proverbs,  but  his  growing  reputation  is 
shown  by  the  numerous  Biblical  and  apocryphal  works 
ascribed  to  him.  His  name  was  no  doubt  attached  to 
Canticles  because  of  a  feature  in  his  character  which 
the  chronicler  ignores.  His  supposed  authorship  of 
Ecclesiastes  and  of  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon  testifies  to 
the  fame  of  his  wisdom,  while  the  titles  of  the  "  Psalms 
of  Solomon  "  and  even  of  some  canonical  psalms  credit 
him  with  spiritual  feeling  and  poetic  power.^ 

When  the  Wisdom  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  Sirach  pro- 
poses to  "  praise  famous  men/'  it  dwells  upon  Solomon's 
temple  and  his  wealth,  and  especially  upon  his  wisdom  ; 
but  it  does  not  forget  his  failings.^  Josephus  celebrates 
his  glory  at  great  length.  The  New  Testament  has 
comparatively  few  notices  of  Solomon  ;  but  these  include 

"  Deut.  xvii.  16,  17  ;  cf.  2  Chron.  i.  14-17  and  I  Kings  xi.  3-8. 
^  Psalms  Ixxii.  and  cxxvii.   arc  attributed  to  him.  the  latter,  how- 
ever, only  in  the  Hebrew  Bible. 
^  Ecclus.  xlvii.  12-21. 


172  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

references  to  his  wisdom/  his  splendour,^  and  his 
temple.^  The  Koran,  however,  far  surpasses  the  New 
Testament  in  its  interest  in  Solomon  ;  and  his  name 
and  his  seal  play  a  leading  part  in  Jewish  and  Arabian 
magic.  The  bulk  of  this  literature  is  later  than  the 
chronicler,  but  the  renewed  interest  in  the  glory  of 
Solomon  must  have  begun  before  his  time.  Perhaps, 
by  connecting  the  building  of  the  Temple  as  far  as 
possible  with  David,  the  chronicler  marks  his  sense  of 
Solomon's  unworthiness.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
were  many  reasons  why  he  should  welcome  the  aid 
of  popular  sentiment  to  enable  him  to  include  Solomon 
among  the  ideal  Hebrew  kings.  After  all,  Solomon 
had  built  and  dedicated  the  Temple  ;  he  was  the  '^  pious 
founder,"  and  the  beneficiaries  of  the  foundation  would 
wish  to  make  the  most  of  his  piety.  **  Jehovah  "  had 
"  magnified  Solomon  exceedingly  in  the  sight  of  all 
Israel,  and  bestowed  upon  him  such  royal  majesty  as 
had  not  been  on  any  king  before  him  in  Israel."* 
King  Solomon  exceeded  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  in 
riches  and  wisdom ;  and  all  the  kings  of  the  earth 
sought  the  presence  of  Solomon,  to  hear  his  wisdom, 
which  God  had  put  in  his  heart."  ^  The  chronicler  would 
naturally  wish  to  set  forth  the  better  side  of  Solomon's 
character  as  an  ideal  of  royal  wisdom  and  splendour, 
devoted  to  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  Let  us  briefly 
compare  Chronicles  and  Kings  to  see  how  he  accom- 
plished his  purpose. 

The  structure  of  the  "narrative  in  Kings  rendered  the 
task  comparatively  easy  :  it  could  be  accomplished  by 
removing  the  opening  and  closing  sections  and  making 

'  Matt.  xii.  42.  *  Acts  vii.  47. 

-  Matt.  vi.  29.  ■•  I  Chron.  xxix.  25. 

^  2  Chron.  ix.  22,  23. 


SOLOMON  173 


a  few  minor  changes  in  the  intermediate  portion.  The 
opening  section  is  the  sequel  to  the  conclusion  of 
David's  reign  ;  the  chronicler  omitted  this  conclusion, 
and  therefore  also  its  sequel.  But  the  contents  of  this 
section  were  objectionable  in  themselves.  Solomon's 
admirers  willingly  forget  that  his  reign  was  inaugurated 
by  the  execution  of  Shimei,  of  his  brother  Adonijah, 
and  of  his  father's  faithful  minister  Joab,  and  by  the 
deposition  of  the  high-priest  Abiathar.  The  chronicler 
narrates  with  evident  approval  the  strong  measures  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  against  foreign  marriages,  and  he 
is  therefore  not  anxious  to  remind  his  readers  that 
Solomon  married  Pharaoh's  daughter.  He  does  not, 
however,  carry  out  his  plan  consistently.  Elsewhere 
he  wishes  to  emphasise  the  sanctity  of  the  Ark  and 
tells  us  that  "  Solomon  brought  up  the  daughter  of 
Pharaoh  out  of  the  city  of  David  unto  the  house  that 
he  had  built  for  her,  for  he  said,  My  wife  shall  not  dwell 
in  the  house  of  David,  king  of  Israel,  because  the  places 
are  holy  whereunto  the  ark  of  the  Lord  hath  come."  ^ 

In  Kings  the  history  of  Solomon  closes  with  a  long 
account  of  his  numerous  wives  and  concubines,  his 
idolatry  and  consequent  misfortunes.  All  this  is 
omitted  by  the  chronicler ;  but  later  on,  with  his  usual 
inconsistency,  he  allows  Nehemiah  to  point  the  moral 
of  a  tale  he  has  left  untold  :  **  Did  not  Solomon,  king 
of  Israel,  sin  by  these  things  ?  .  .  .  Even  him  did 
strange  women  cause  to  sin."^  In  the  intervening 
section  he  omits  the  famous  judgment  of  Solomon,  pro- 
bably on  account  of  the  character  of  the  women  con- 
cerned. He  introduces  sundry  changes  which  naturally 
follow  from  his  belief  that  the  Levitical  law  was  then 

'  2  Chron.  viii.  11.  '■'  Neh.  xiii.  26. 


174  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

in  force. ^  His  feeling  for  the  dignity  of  the  chosen 
people  and  their  king  comes  out  rather  curiously  in 
two  minor  alterations.  Both  authorities  agree  in  telling 
us  that  Solomon  had  recourse  to  forced  labour  for  his 
building  operations ;  in  fact,  after  the  usual  Eastern 
fashion  from  the  Pyramids  down  to  the  Suez  Canal, 
Solomon's  temple  and  palaces  were  built  by  the  coi've'e. 
According  to  the  oldest  narrative,  he  "  raised  a  levy  out 
of  all  Israel."^  This  suggests  that  forced  labour  was 
exacted  from  the  Israelites  themselves,  and  it  would  help 
to  account  for  Jeroboam's  successful  rebellion.  The 
chronicler  omits  this  statement  as  open  to  an  interpreta- 
tion derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  the  chosen  people,  and 
not  only  inserts  a  later  explanation  which  he  found  in 
the  book  of  Kings,  but  also  another  express  statement 
that  Solomon  raised  his  levy  of  the  "strangers  that 
were  in  the  land  of  Israel."  ^  These  statements  may 
have  been  partly  suggested  by  the  existence  of  a  class 
of  Temple  slaves  called  Solomon's  servants. 

The  other  instance  relates  to  Solomon's  alliance  with 
Hiram,  king  of  Tyre.  In  the  book  of  Kings  we  are 
told  that  "  Solomon  gave  Hiram  twenty  cities  in  the  land 
of  Galilee."  *  There  were  indeed  redeeming  features 
connected  with  the  transaction  ;  the  cities  were  not  a 
very  valuable  possession  for  Hiram  :  "  they  pleased  him 
not  " ;  yet  he  "  sent  to  the  king  six  score  talents  of 
gold."  However,  it  seemed  incredible  to  the  chronicler 
that  the  most   powerful  and   wealthy   of  the   kings  of 

'  Such  changes  occur  throughout,  and  need  not  be  further  noticed 
unless  some  special  interest  attaches  to  them. 

'•*  I  Kings  V.  13;  ix.  22,  which  seems  to  contradict  this,  is  an 
editorial  note. 

*  2  Chron.  ii.  2,  17,  18;  viii.  7-10. 

*  I  Kings  ix.  11,  12. 


SOLOMON  175 


Israel  should  either  cede  or  sell  any  portion  of 
Jehovah's  inheritance.  He  emends  the  text  of  his 
authority  so  as  to  convert  it  into  a  casual  reference  to 
certain  cities  which  Hiram  had  given  to  Solomon/ 

We  will  now  reproduce  the  story  of  Solomon  as 
given  by  the  chronicler.  Solomon  was  the  youngest 
of  four  sons  born  to  David  at  Jerusalem  by  Bath-shua, 
the  daughter  of  Ammiel.  Besides  these  three  brothers, 
he  had  at  least  six  other  elder  brothers.  As  in  the  cases 
of  Isaac,  Jacob,  Judah,  and  David  himself,  the  birth- 
right fell  to  a  younger  son.  In  the  prophetic  utterance 
which  foretold  his  birth,  he  was  designated  to  succeed 
to  his  father's  throne  and  to  build  the  Temple.  At  the 
great  assembly  which  closed  his  father's  reign  he  re- 
ceived instructions  as  to  the  plans  and  services  of  the 
Temple,^  and  was  exhorted  to  discharge  his  duties 
faithfully.  He  was  declared  king  according  to  the 
Divine  choice,  freely  accepted  by  David  and  ratified  by 
popular  acclamation.  At  David's  death  no  one  disputed 
his  succession  to  the  throne  :  "  All  Israel  obeyed  him  ; 
and  all  the  princes  and  the  mighty  men  and  all  the 
sons  likewise  of  King  David  submitted  themselves  unto 
Solomon  the  king."^ 

His  first  act  after  his  accession  was  to  sacrifice  before 
the  brazen  altar  of  the  ancient  Tabernacle  at  Gibeon. 
That  night  God  appeared  unto  him  "  and  said  unto  him, 
Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee."  Solomon  chose  wisdom 
and  knowledge  to  qualify  him  for  the  arduous  task  of 
government.  Having  thus  "  sought  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  His  righteousness,"  all  other  things — "  riches, 
wealth,  and  honour" — were  added  unto  him.'* 

He  returned  to  Jerusalem,  gathered  a  great  array  of 

•  2  Chron.  viii.  I,  2,  R.V.  ^  I  Chron.  xxix.  23,  24. 

■   I  Chron.  xxii.  9.  *  2  Chron.  i.  7-13. 


176  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

chariots  and  horses  by  means  of  traffic  with  Egypt, 
and  accumulated  great  wealth,  so  that  silver,  and  gold, 
and  cedars  became  abundant  at  Jerusalem.^ 

He  next  proceeded  with  the  building  of  the  Temple, 
collected  workmen,  obtained  timber  from  Lebanon  and 
an-  artificer  from  Tyre.  The  Temple  was  duly  erected 
and  dedicated,  the  king  taking  the  chief  and  most  con- 
spicuous part  in  all  the  proceedings.  Special  reference, 
however,  is  made  to  the  presence  of  the  priests  and 
Levites  at  the  dedication.  On  this  occasion  the 
ministry  of  the  sanctuary  was  not  confined  to  the  course 
whose  turn  it  was  to  officiate,  but  "  all  the  priests  that 
were  present  had  sanctified  themselves  and  did  not  keep 
their  courses  ;  also  the  Levites,  which  were  the  singers, 
all  of  them,  even  Asaph,  Heman,  Jeduthun,  and  their 
sons  and  their  brethren,  arrayed  in  fine  linen,  with 
cymbals,  and  psalteries,  and  harps,  stood  at  the  east  end 
of  the  altar,  and  with  them  a  hundred  and  twenty 
priests  sounding  with  trumpets."  ^ 

Solomon's  dedication  prayer  concludes  with  special 
petitions  for  the  priests,  the  saints,  and  the  king  :  "  Now 
therefore  arise,  O  Jehovah  Elohim,  into  Thy  resting- 
place.  Thou  and  the  ark  of  Thy  strength  ;  let  Thy 
priests,  O  Jehovah  Elohim,  be  clothed  with  salvation, 
and  let  Thy  saints  rejoice  in  goodness.  O  Jehovah 
Elohim,  turn  not  away  the  face  of  Thine  anointed ; 
remember  the  mercies  of  David  Thy  servant."  ^ 

When  David  sacrificed  at  the  threshing-floor  of 
Oman  the  Jebusite,  the  place  had  been  indicated  as 
the  site  of  the  future  Temple  by  the  descent  of  fire  from 
heaven  ;  and  now,  in   token  that  the  mercy  shown  to 

'  2  Chron.  i.  14-17.  '"  v.  11,  12,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

*  vi.  41,   42,   peculiar  to   Chronicles,  apparently  based    on   Psalm 
cxxxii,  8-10. 


SOLOMON  177 


David  should  be  continued  to  Solomon,  the  fire  again 
fell  from  heaven,  and  consumed  the  burnt  offering  and 
the  sacrifices ;  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah  "  filled  the 
house  of  Jehovah,"  ^  as  it  had  done  earlier  in  the  day, 
when  the  Ark  was  brought  into  the  Temple.  Solomon 
concluded  the  opening  ceremonies  by  a  great  festival : 
for  eight  days  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was  observed 
according  to  the  Levitical  law,  and  seven  days  more 
were  specially  devoted  to  a  dedication  feast.^ 

Afterwards  Jehovah  appeared  again  to  Solomon,  as 
He  had  before  at  Gibeon,  and  told  him  that  this  pra3^ei 
was  accepted.  Taking  up  the  several  petitions  that 
the  king  had  offered.  He  promised,  "  If  I  shut  up 
heaven  that  there  be  no  rain,  or  if  I  send  pestilence 
among  My  people ;  if  My  people,  which  'are  called  by 
My  name,  shall  humble  themselves,  and  pray,  and  seek 
My  face,  and  turn  from  their  wicked  ways  ;  then  will  I 
hear  from  heaven,  and  will  forgive  their  sin,  and  will 
heal  their  land.  Now  Mine  eyes  shall  be  open,  and  Mine 
ears  attent,  unto  the  prayer  that  is  made  in  this  place." 
Thus  Jehovah,  in  His  gracious  condescension,  adopts 
Solomon's  own  words  ^  to  express  His  answer  to  the 
prayer.  He  allows  Solomon  to  dictate  the  terms  of  the 
agreement,  and  merely  appends  His  signature  and  seal. 

Besides  the  Temple,  Solomon  built  palaces  for  himself 
and  his  wife,  and  fortified  many  cities,  among  the  rest 
Hamath-zobah,  formerly  allied  to  David.*  He  also  or- 
ganised the  people  for  civil  and  military  purposes. 

'  I  Chron.  xxi.  26 ;  2  Chron.  vii.  1-3,  both  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
^  vii.   8-10,   mostly  peculiar  to  Chronicles.     The  text  in    I    Kings 
viii.  65  has  been  interpolated  from  Chronicles. 

*  vii.   13-15,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

*  viii.  3,  4,  peculiar  to  Chronicles.  Hamath  is  apparently  re- 
ferred to  as  a  possession  of  Judah  in  2  Kings  xiv.  28. 

12 


178  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

As  far  as  the  account  of  his  reign  is  concerned,  the 
Solomon  of  Chronicles  appears  as  "  the  husband  of  one 
wife  "  ;  and  that  wife  is  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh.  A 
second,  however,  is  mentioned  later  on  as  the  mother 
of  Rehoboam  ;  she  too  was  a  "  strange  woman,"  an 
Ammonitess,  Naamah  by  name. 

Meanwhile  Solomon  was  careful  to  maintain  all  the 
sacrifices  and  festivals  ordained  in  the  Levitical  law, 
and  all  the  musical  and  other  arrangements  for  the 
sanctuary  commanded  by  David,  the  man  of  God.^ 

We  read  next  of  his  commerce  by  sea  and  land,  his 
great  wealth  and  wisdom,  and  the  romantic  visit  of  the 
queen  of  Sheba.^ 

And  so  the  story  of  Solomon  closes  with  this  picture 
of  royal  state, — 

"The  wealth  of  Ormus  and  of  Ind, 
Or  where  the  gorgeous  East  with  richest  hand 
Showers  on  her  kings  barbaric  pearl  and  gold." 

Wealth  was  combined  with  imperial  power  and 
Divine  wisdom.  Here,  as  in  the  case  of  Plato's  own 
pupils  Dionysius  and  Dion  of  Syracuse,  Plato's  dream 
came  true ;  the  prince  was  a  philosopher,  and  the 
philosopher  a  prince. 

At  first  sight  it  seems  as  if  this  marriage  of  authority 
and  wisdom  had  happier  issue  at  Jerusalem  than  at 
Syracuse.  Solomon's  history  closes  as  brilliantly  as 
David's,  and  Solomon  was  subject  to  no  Satanic  pos- 
session and  brought  no  pestilence  upon  Israel.  But 
testimonials  are  chiefly  significant  in  what  they  omit ; 
and  when  we  compare  the  conclusions  of  the  histories 
of  David  and  Solomon,  we  note  suggestive  differences. 

'  viii.   12-16,  peculiar  in  this  form  to   Chronicles,  but  based  upon 
I    Kings  ix.  25. 
^  ix.,  as  in  i  Kings  x.  1-13. 


SOLOMON  179 


Solomon's  life  does  not  close  with  any  scene  in 
which  his  people  and  his  heir  assemble  to  do  him 
honour  and  to  receive  his  last  injunctions.  There  are 
no  "  last  words  "  of  the  wise  king ;  and  it  is  not  said 
of  him  that  "  he  died  in  a  good  old  age,  full  of  days, 
riches,  and  honour."  "  Solomon  slept  with  his  fathers, 
and  he  was  buried  in  the  city  of  David  his  father ;  and 
Rehoboam  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead  "  ^ :  that  is  all. 
When  the  chronicler,  the  professed  panegyrist  of  the 
house  of  David,  brings  his  narrative  of  this  great  reign 
to  so  lame  and  impotent  a  conclusion,  he  really  implies 
as  severe  a  condemnation  upon  Solomon  as  the  book 
of  Kings  does  by  its  narrative  of  his  sins. 

Thus  the  Solomon  of  Chronicles  shows  the  same  piety 
and  devotion  to  the  Temple  and  its  ritual  which  were 
shown  by  his  father.  His  prayer  at  the  dedication  of 
the  Temple  is  parallel  to  similar  utterances  of  David, 
Instead  of  being  a  general  and  a  soldier,  he  is  a  scholar 
and  a  philosopher.  He  succeeded  to  the  administrative 
abilities  of  his  father ;  and  his  pra3'er  displays  a  deep 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  subjects.  His  record — 
in  Chronicles — is  even  more  faultless  than  that  of 
David.  And  yet  the  careful  student  with  nothing  but 
Chronicles,  even  without  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  might 
somehow  get  the  impression  that  the  story  of  Solomon, 
like  that  of  Cambuscan,  had  been  "  left  half  told."  In 
addition  to  the  points  suggested  by  a  comparison  with 
the  history  of  David,  there  is  a  certain  abruptness 
about  its  conclusion.  The  last  fact  noted  of  Solomon, 
before  the  formal  statistics  about  "  the  rest  of  his  acts  " 
and  the  years  of  his  reign,  is  that  horses  were  brought 
for  him  "  out  of  Egypt   and  out   of  all  lands."     Else- 


'  ix.  31. 


i8o  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

where  the  chronicler's  use  of  his  materials  shows  a 
feeling  for  dramatic  effect.  We  should  not  have  ex- 
pected him  to  close  the  history  of  a  great  reign  by  a 
reference  to  the  king's  trade  in  horses.^ 

Perhaps  we  are  apt  to  read  into  Chronicles  what  we 
know  from  the  book  of  Kings ;  yet  surely  this  abrupt 
conclusion  would  have  raised  a  suspicion  that  there 
were  omissions,  that  facts  had  been  suppressed  because 
they  could  not  bear  the  light.  Upon  the  splendid 
figure  of  the  great  king,  with  his  wealth  and  wisdom, 
his  piety  and  devotion,  rests  the  vague  shadow  of 
unnamed  sins  and  unrecorded  misfortunes.  A  sug- 
gestion of  unhallowed  mystery  attaches  itself  to  the 
name  of  the  builder  of  the  Temple,  and  Solomon  is 
already  on  the  way  to  become  the  Master  of  the  Genii 
and  the  chief  of  magicians.^ 

'  ix.  38. 

^  It  is  not  suggested  that  the  chronicler  intended  to  convey  this 
impression,  or  that  it  would  be  felt  by  most  of  his  readers. 


CHAPTER   VI 

SOLOMON   {continued) 

WHEN  we  turn  to  consider  the  spiritual  signifi- 
cance of  this  ideal  picture  of  the  history  and 
character  of  Solomon,  we  are  confronted  by  a  difficulty 
that  attends  the  exposition  of  any  ideal  history.  An 
author's  ideal  of  kingship  in  the  early  stages  of  litera- 
ture is  usually  as  much  one  and  indivisible  as  his  ideal 
of  priesthood,  of  the  office  of  the  prophet,  and  of  the 
wicked  king.  His  authorities  may  record  different 
incidents  in  connection  with  each  individual ;  but  he 
emphasises  those  which  correspond  with  his  ideal,  or 
even  anticipates  the  higher  criticism  by  constructing 
incidents  which  seem  required  by  the  character  and 
circumstances  of  his  heroes.  On  the  other  hand, 
where  the  priest,  or  the  prophet,  or  the  king  departs 
from  the  ideal,  the  incidents  are  minimised  or  passed 
over  in  silence.  There  will  still  be  a  certain  variety 
because  different  individuals  may  present  different 
elements  of  the  ideal,  and  the  chronicler  does  not 
insist  on  each  of  his  good  kings  possessing  all  the 
characteristics  of  royal  perfection.  Still  the  tendency 
of  the  process  is  to  make  all  the  good  kings  alike. 
It  would  be  monotonous  to  take  each  of  them 
separately  and  deduce  the  lessons  taught  by  their 
virtues,    because    the    chronicler's    intention    is    that 

i8i 


iSi  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

they  shall  all  teach  the  same  lessons  by  the  same 
kind  of  behaviour  described  from  the  same  point  of 
view.  David  has  a  unique  position,  and  has  to  be 
taken  by  himself;  but  in  considering  the  features 
that  must  be  added  to  the  picture  of  David  in  order 
to  complete  the  picture  of  the  good  king,  it  is  con- 
venient to  group  Solomon  with  the  reforming  kings 
of  Judah.  We  shall  therefore  defer  for  more  conse- 
cutive treatment  the  chronicler's  account  of  their  general 
characters  and  careers.  Here  we  shall  merely  gather 
up  the  suggestions  of  the  different  narratives  as  to  the 
chronicler's  ideal  Hebrew  king. 

The  leading  points  have  already  been  indicated  from 
the  chronicler's  history  of  David.  The  first  and  most 
indispensable  feature  is  devotion  to  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  and  the  ritual  of  the  Pentateuch.  This  has 
been  abundantly  illustrated  from  the  account  of  Solomon. 
Taking  the  reforming  kings  in  their  order  : — 

Asa  removed  the  high  places  which  were  rivals  of 
the  Temple/  renewed  the  altar  of  Jehovah,  gathered 
the  people  together  for  a  great  sacrifice,"  and  made 
munificent  donations  to  the  Temple  treasury.^ 

Similarly  Jehoshaphat  took  away  the  high  places,* 
and  sent  out  a  commission  to  teach  the  Law.^ 

Joash  repaired  the  Temple^;  but,  curiously  enough, 
though  Jehoram  had  restored  the  high  places'"  and 
Joash  was  acting  under  the  direction  of  the  high-priest 


'  xiv.  3,   5,  contradicting  i   Kings  xv.    14  and  apparently  2  Chron. 
XV.  17. 
^  XV.  8-14,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
^  XV.  18,  19. 

■*  xvii.  6  contradicts  I  Kings  xxii.  43  and  2  Chron.  xx.  33. 
'  xvii.  7-9)  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
*  xxiv.  I-14. 
'  xxi.  II,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


SOLOMON  183 


Jehoiada,  it  is  not  stated  that  the  high  places  were 
done  away  with.  This  is  one  of  the  chronicler's  rather 
numerous  oversights.  Perhaps,  however,  he  expected 
that  so  obvious  a  reform  would  be  taken  for  granted. 

Amaziah  was  careful  to  observe  "  the  law  in  the 
book  of  Moses  "  that  "  the  children  should  not  die  for 
the  fathers/'^  but  Amaziah  soon  turned  away  from 
following  Jehovah.  This  is  perhaps  the  reason  why 
in  his  case  also  nothing  is  said  about  doing  away  with 
the  high  places. 

Hezekiah  had  a  special  opportunity  of  showing  his 
devotion  to  the  Temple  and  the  Law.  The  Temple 
had  been  polluted  and  closed  by  Ahaz,  and  its  services 
discontinued.  Hezekiah  purified  the  Temple,  reinstated 
the  priests  and  Levites,  and  renewed  the  services  ;  he 
made  arrangements  for  the  payment  of  the  Temple 
revenues  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  Levitical 
law,  and  took  away  the  high  places.  He  also  held  a 
reopening  festival  and  a  passover  with  numerous 
sacrifices.^ 

Manasseh's  repentance  is  indicated  by  the  restoration 
of  the  Temple  ritual.^ 

Josiah  took  away  the  high  places,  repaired  the 
Temple,  made  the  people  enter  into  a  covenant  to 
observe  the  rediscovered  Law,  and,  like  Hezekiah, 
held  a  great  passover.* 

The  reforming  kings,  like  David  and  Solomon,  are 
specially  interested  in  the  music  of  the  Temple  and  in 

'  XXV.  4. 

^  2  Chron.'xxviii.  24-xxxi.,  mostly  peculiar  to  Chronicles;  but  com- 
pare 2  Kings  xviii.  4-7,  which  mentions  the  taking  away  of  the  high 
places. 

^  xxxiii.  16, 

■*  xxxiv. ;  XXXV. 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


all  the  arrangements  that  have  to  do  with  the  porters 
and  doorkeepers  and  other  classes  of  Levites.  Their 
enthusiasm  for  the  exclusive  rights  of  the  one  Temple 
symbolises  their  lo3'alty  to  the  one  God,  Jehovah,  and 
their  hatred  of  idolatry. 

Zeal  for  Jehovah  and  His  temple  is  still  combined 
with  uncompromising  assertion  of  the  royal  supremacy 
in  matters  of  religion.  The  king,  and  not  the  priest,  is 
the  highest  spiritual  authority  in  the  nation.  Solomon, 
Hezekiah,  and  Josiah  control  the  arrangements  for 
pubHc  worship  as  completely  as  Moses  or  David. 
Solomon  receives  Divine  communications  without  the 
intervention  of  either  priest  or  prophet ;  he  himself 
offers  the  great  dedication  prayer,  and  when  he  makes 
an  end  of  praying,  fire  comes  down  from  heaven. 
Under  Hezekiah  the  civil  authorities  decide  when  the 
passover  shall  be  observed  :  ''  For  the  king  had  taken 
counsel,  and  his  princes,  and  all  the  congregation  in 
Jerusalem,  to  keep  the  passover  in  the  second  month."  ^ 
The  great  reforms  of  Josiah  are  throughout  initiated 
and  controlled  by  the  king.  He  himself  goes  up  to  the 
Temple  and  reads  in  the  ears  of  the  people  all  the 
words  of  the  book  of  the  covenant  that  was  found  in 
the  house  of  Jehovah.  The  chronicler  still  adheres  to 
the  primitive  idea  of  the  theocracy,  according  to  which 
the  chief,  or  judge,  or  king  is  the  representative  of 
Jehovah. 

The  title  to  the  crown  rests  throughout  on  the  grace 
of  God  and  the  will  of  the  people.  In  Judah,  however, 
the  principle  of  hereditary  succession  prevails  through- 
out. Athaliah  is  not  really  an  exception  :  she  reigned 
as  the  widow  of  a  Davidic  king.     The  double  election 


SOLOMON  i8s 


of  David  by  Jehovah  and  by  Israel  carried  with  it  the 
election  of  his  dynasty.  The  permanent  rule  of  the 
house  of  David  was  secured  by  the  Divine  promise 
to  its  founder.  Yet  the  title  is  not  allowed  to  rest  on 
mere  hereditary  right.  Divine  choice  and  popular 
recognition  are  recorded  in  the  case  of  Solomon  and 
other  kings.  "All  Israel  came  to  Shechem  to  make 
Rehoboam  king,"  and  yet  revolted  from  him  when  he 
refused  to  accept  their  conditions  ;  but  the  obstinacy 
which  caused  the  disruption  "  was  brought  about  of 
God,  that  Jehovah  might  establish  His  word  which  He 
spake  by  the  hand  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite." 

Ahaziah,  Joash,  Uzziah,  Josiah,  Jehoahaz,  were  all 
set  upon  the  throne  by  the  inhabitants  of  Judah  and 
Jerusalem.  ^  After  Solomon  the  Divine  appointment  of 
kings  is  not  expressly  mentioned ;  Jehovah's  control 
over  the  tenure  of  the  throne  is  chiefly  shown  by  the 
removal  of  unworthy  occupants. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  chronicler  does  not 
hesitate  to  record  that  of  the  last  three  sovereigns  of 
Judah  two  were  appointed  by  foreign  kings  :  Jehoiakim 
was  the  nominee  of  Pharaoh  Neco,  king  of  Egypt ;  and 
the  last  king  of  all,  Zedekiah,  was  appointed  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon.  In  like  manner, 
the  Herods,  the  last  rulers  of  the  restored  kingdom  of 
Judah,  were  the  nominees  of  the  Roman  emperors. 
Such  nominations  forcibly  illustrate  the  degradations 
and  ruin  of  the  theocratic  monarchy.  But  yet,  accord- 
ing to  the  teaching  of  the  prophets,  Pharaoh  and 
Nebuchadnezzar  were  tools  in  the  hand  of  Jehovah  ; 
and  their  nomination  was  still  an  indirect  Divine  appoint- 
ment.    In  the  chronicler's  time,   however,  Judah  was 

'  xxii.  I ;  xxiii.  1-15;  xxvi.  I  ;  xxxiii.  25  ;  xxxvi.  i. 


1 86  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

thoroughly  accustomed  to  receive  her  governors  from  a 
Persian  or  Greek  king ;  and  Jewish  readers  would  not 
be  scandalised  by  a  similar  state  of  affairs  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  earlier  kingdom. 

Thus  the  reforming  kings  illustrate  the  ideal  kingship 
set  forth  in  the  history  of  David  and  Solomon  :  the 
royal  authority  originates  in,  and  is  controlled  by,  the 
will  of  God  and  the  consent  of  the  people ;  the  king's 
highest  duty  is  the  maintenance  of  the  worship  of 
Jehovah ;  but  the  king  and  people  are  supreme  both 
in  Church  and  state. 

The  personal  character  of  the  good  kings  is  also  very 
similar  to  that  of  David  and  Solomon.  Jehoshaphat, 
Hezekiah,  and  Josiah  are  men  of  spiritual  feeling  as 
well  as  careful  observers  of  correct  ritual.  None  of  the 
good  kings,  with  the  exception  of  Joash  and  Josiah, 
are  unsuccessful  in  war ;  and  good  reasons  are  given 
for  the  exceptions.  They  all  display  administrative 
ability  by  their  buildings,  the  organisation  of  the 
Temple  services  and  the  army,  and  the  arrangements 
for  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  especially  the  dues 
of  the  priests  and  Levites. 

There  is  nothing,  however,  to  indicate  that  the 
personal  charm  of  David's  character  was  inherited  by 
his  descendants  ;  but  when  biography  is  made  merely 
a  means  of  edification,  it  often  loses  those  touches  of 
nature  which  make  the  whole  world  kin,  and  are 
capable  of  exciting  either  admiration  or  disgust. 

The  later  narrative  affords  another  illustration  of  the 
absence  of  any  sentiment  of  humanity  towards  enemies. 
As  in  the  case  of  David,  the  chronicler  records  the 
cruelty  of  a  good  king  as  if  it  were  quite  consistent 
with  loyalty  to  Jehovah.  Before  he  turned  away  from 
following  Jehovah,  Amaziah  defeated  the  Edomites  and 


SOLOMON  187 


smote  ten  thousand  of  them.  Others  were  treated  like 
some  of  the  Malagasy  martyrs:  "And  other  ten 
thousand  did  the  children  of  Judah  carry  away  alive, 
and  brought  them  unto  the  top  of  the  rock,  and 
cast  them  down  from  the  top  of  the  rock,  that  they 
all  were  broken  in  pieces."^  In  this  case,  however, 
the  chronicler  is  not  simply  reproducing  Kings  :  he  has 
taken  the  trouble  to  supplement  his  main  authority 
from  some  other  source,  probably  local  tradition.  His 
insertion  of  this  verse  is  another  testimony  to  the 
undying  hatred  of  Israel  for  Edom. 

But  in  one  respect  the  reforming  kings  are  sharply 
distinguished  from  David  and  Solomon.  The  record 
of  their  lives  is  by  no  means  blameless,  and  their  sins 
are  visited  by  condign  chastisement.  They  all,  with 
the  single  exception  of  Jotham,  come  to  a  bad  end. 
Asa  consulted  physicians,  and  was  punished  by  being 
allowed  to  die  of  a  painful  disease.^  The  last  event  of 
Jehoshaphat's  life  was  the  ruin  of  the  navy,  which  he 
had  built  in  unholy  alliance  with  Ahaziah,  king  of 
Israel,  who  did  very  wickedly.^  Joash  murdered  the 
prophet  Zechariah,  the  son  of  the  high-priest  Jehoiada  ; 
his  great  host  was  routed  by  a  small  company  of 
Syrians,  and  Joash  himself  was  assassinated  by  his 
servants.*  Amaziah  turned  away  from  following  Jeho- 
vah, and  "  brought  the  gods  of  the  children  of  Seir,  and 
set  them  up  to  be  his  gods,  and  bowed  down  himself 
before  them,  and  burned  incense  unto  them."  He  was 
accordingly  defeated  by  Joash,  king  of  Israel,  and 
assassinated  by  his  own  people.^  Uzziah  insisted  on 
exercising  the  priestly  function  of  burning  incense  to 
Jehovah,  and  so  died  a  leper.**     "  Even  Hezekiah  ren- 

'  XXV.  II.  '  XX.  37.  *  XXV.  14-27. 

^  xvi.  12.  ■*  xxiv  20-27.  °  xxvi.  16-23. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


dered  not  again  according  to  the  benefit  done  unto 
him,  for  his  heart  was  lifted  up  in  the  business  of 
ambassadors  of  the  princes  of  Babylon  ;  therefore  there 
was  wrath  upon  him  and  upon  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 
Notwithstanding  Hezekiah  humbled  himself  for  the 
pride  of  his  heart,  both  he  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  so  that  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  came  not  upon 
them  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah."  But  yet  the  last  days 
of  Hezekiah  were  clouded  by  the  thought  that  he  was 
leaving  the  punishment  of  his  sin  as  a  legacy  to  Judah 
and  the  house  of  David.^  Josiah  refused  to  heed  the 
warning  sent  to  him  by  God  through  the  king  of 
Egypt :  ''  He  hearkened  not  unto  the  words  of  Neco 
from  the  mouth  of  God,  and  came  to  fight  in  the  valley 
of  Megiddo";  and  so  Josiah'died  like  Ahab  :  he  was 
wounded  by  the  archers,  carried  out  of  the  battle  in  his 
chariot,  and  died  at  Jerusalem.^ 

The  melancholy  record  of  the  misfortunes  of  the 
good  kings  in  their  closing  years  is  also  found  in  the 
book  of  Kings.  There  too  Asa  in  his  old  age  was 
diseased  in  his  feet,  Jehoshaphat's  ships  were  wrecked, 
Joash  and  Amaziah  were  assassinated,  Uzziah  became 
a  leper,  Hezekiah  was  rebuked  for  his  pride,  and 
Josiah  slain  at  Megiddo.  But,  except  in  the  case  of 
Hezekiah,  the  book  of  Kings  says  nothing  about 
the  sins  which,  according  to  Chronicles,  occasioned 
these  sufferings  and  catastrophes.  The  narrative  in 
the  book  of  Kings  carries  upon  the  face  of  it  the  lesson 
that  piety  is  not  usually  rewarded  with  unbroken  pros- 
perity, and  that  a  pious  career  does  not  necessarily 
ensure  a  happy  deathbed.  The  significance  of  the 
chronicler's   additions    will    be    considered    elsewhere ; 

*  xxxii.  25-33.  '''  XXXV.  20-27. 


SOLOMON 


what  concerns  us  here  is  his  departure  from  the  prin- 
ciples he  observed  in  deaUng  with  the  lives  of  David 
and  Solomon.  They  also  sinned  and  suffered  ;  but  the 
chronicler  omits  their  sins  and  sufferings,  especially 
in  the  case  of  Solomon.  Why  does  he  pursue  an 
opposite  course  with  other  good  kings  and  blacken 
their  characters  by  perpetuating  the  memory  of  sins 
not  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Kings,  instead  of  con- 
fining his  record  to  the  happier  incidents  of  their 
career  ?  Many  considerations  may  have  influenced 
him.  The  violent  deaths  of  Joash,  Amaziah,  and 
Josiah  could  neither  be  ignored  nor  explained  away. 
Hezekiah's  sin  and  repentance  are  closely  parallel  to 
David's  in  the  matter  of  the  census.  Although  Asa's 
disease,  Jehoshaphat's  alliance  with  Israel,  and  Uzziah's 
leprosy  might  easily  have  been  omitted,  yet,  if  some 
reformers  must  be  allowed  to  remain  imperfect,  there 
was  no  imperative  necessity  to  ignore  the  infirmities  of 
the  rest.  The  great  advantage  of  the  course  pursued 
by  the  chronicler  consisted  in  bringing  out  a  clearly 
defined  contrast  between  David  and  Solomon  on  the 
one  hand  and  the  reforming  kings  on  the  other.  The 
piety  of  the  latter  is  conformed  to  the  chronicler's 
ideal ;  but  the  glory  and  devotion  of  the  former  are 
enhanced  by  the  crimes  and  humiliation  of  the  best  of 
their  successors.  Hezekiah,  doubtless,  is  not  more 
culpable  than  David,  but  David's  pride  was  the  first  of 
a  series  of  events  which  terminated  in  the  building  of 
the  Temple ;  while  the  uplifting  of  Hezekiah's  heart 
was  a  precursor  of  its  destruction.  Besides,  Hezekiah 
ought  to  have  profited  by  David's  experience. 

By  developing  this  contrast,  the  chronicler  renders 
the  position  of  David  and  Solomon  even  more  unique, 
illustrious,  and  full  of  religious  significance. 


I  go  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


Thus  as  illustrations  of  ideal  kingship  the  accounts 
of  the  good  kings  of  Judah  are  altogether  subordinate 
to  the  history  of  David  and  Solomon.  While  these 
kings  of  Judah  remain  loyal  to  Jehovah,  they  further 
illustrate  the  virtues  of  their  great  predecessors  by 
showing  how  these  virtues  might  have  been  exercised 
under  different  circumstances  :  how  David  would  have 
dealt  with  an  Ethiopian  invasion  and  what  Solomon 
would  have  done  if  he  had  found  the  Temple  desecrated 
and  its  services  stopped.  But  no  essential  feature  is 
added  to  the  earlier  pictures. 

The  lapses  of  kings  who  began  to  walk  in  the  law 
of  the  Lord  and  then  fell  away  serve  as  foils  to  the 
undimmed  glory  of  David  and  Solomon.  Abrupt 
transitions  within  the  limits  of  the  individual  lives  of 
Asa,  Joash,  and  Amaziah  bring  out  the  contrast 
between  piety  and  apostacy  with  startling,  dramatic 
effect. 

We  return  from  this  brief  survey  to  consider  the 
significance  of  the  life  of  Solomon  according  to  Chroni- 
cles. Its  relation  to  the  life  of  David  is  summed  up 
in  the  name  Solomon,  the  Prince  of  peace.  David 
is  the  ideal  king,  winning  by  force  of  arms  for  Israel 
empire  and  victory,  security  at  home  and  tribute  from 
abroad.  Utterly  subdued  by  his  prowess,  the  natural 
enemies  of  Israel  no  longer  venture  to  disturb  her 
tranquillity.  His  successor  inherits  wide  dominion, 
immense  wealth,  and  assured  peace.  Solomon,  the 
Prince  of  peace,  is  the  ideal  king,  administering  a 
great  inheritance  for  the  glory  of  Jehovah  and  His 
temple.  His  history  in  Chronicles  is  one  of  unbroken 
calm.  He  has  a  great  army  and  many  strong  fortresses, 
but  he  never  has  occasion  to  use  them.  He  implores 
Jehovah  to  be  merciful  to  Israel  when  they  suffer  from 


SOLOMON  191 


the  horrors  of  war  ;  but  he  is  interceding,  not  for  his 
own  subjects,  but  for  future  generations.  In  his 
time — 

"  No  war  or  battle's  sound 
Was  heard  the  world  around  : 

The  idle  spear  and  shield  were  high  uphung ; 
The  hooked  chariot  stood 
Unstained  with  hostile  blood  ; 

The  trumpet  spake  not  to  the  armfed  throng." ' 

Perhaps,  to  use  a  paradox,  the  greatest  proof  of 
Solomon's  wisdom  was  that  he  asked  for  wisdom.  He 
realised  at  the  outset  of  his  career  that  a  wide  dominion 
is  more  easily  won  than  governed,  that  to  use  great 
wealth  honourably  requires  more  skill  and  character 
than  are  needed  to  amass  it.  To-day  the  world  can 
boast  half  a  dozen  empires  surpassing  not  merely 
Israel,  but  even  Rome,  in  extent  of  dominion  ;  the 
aggregate  wealth  of  the  world  is  far  beyond  the  wildest 
dreams  of  the  chronicler :  but  still  the  people  perish 
for  lack  of  knowledge.  The  physical  and  moral  foul- 
ness of  modern  cities  taints  all  the  culture  and  tarnishes 
all  the  splendour  of  our  civilisation ;  classes  and 
trades,  employers  and  employed,  maim  and  crush  one 
another  in  blind  struggles  to  work  out  a  selfish 
salvation ;  newly  devised  organisations  move  their  un- 
wieldy masses — ■ 

"...  like  dragons  of  the  prime 
That   tare   each   other." 

They  have  a  giant's  strength,  and  use  it  like  a  giant. 
Knowledge  comes,  but  wisdom  lingers ;  and  the  world 
waits  for  the  reign  of  the  Prince  of  peace  who  is  not 
only  the  wise  king,  but  the  incarnate  wisdom  of  God. 
Thus    one    striking    suggestion    of    the    chronicler's 

'   Milton,   Hymn  to  the  Nativity. 


192  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

history  of  Solomon  is  the  special  need  of  wisdom  and 
Divine  guidance  for  the  administration  of  a  great  and 
prosperous  empire. 

Too  much  stress,  however,  must  not  be  laid  on  the 
twofold  personality  of  the  ideal  king.  This  feature  is 
adopted  from  the  history,  and  does  not  express  any 
opinion  of  the  chronicler  that  the  characteristic  gifts  of 
David  and  Solomon  could  not  be  combined  in  a  single 
individual.  Many  great  generals  have  also  been 
successful  administrators.  Before  Julius  Caesar  was 
assassinated  he  had  already  shown  his  capacity  to 
restore  order  and  tranquillity  to  the  Roman  world ; 
Alexander's  plans  for  the  civil  government  of  his 
conquests  were  as  far-reaching  as  his  warlike  ambition  ; 
Diocletian  reorganised  the  empire  which  his  sword 
had  re-established ;  Cromwell's  schemes  of  reform 
showed  an  almost  prophetic  insight  into  the  future 
needs  of  the  English  people ;  the  glory  of  Napoleon's 
victories  is  a  doubtful  legacy  to  France  compared  with 
the  solid  benefits  of  his  internal  reforms. 

But  even  these  instances,  which  illustrate  the  union 
of  military  genius  and  administrative  ability,  remind 
us  that  the  assignment  of  success  in  war  to  one  king 
and  a  reign  of  peace  to  the  next  is,  after  all,  typical. 
The  limits  of  human  life  narrow  its  possibilities. 
Caesar's  work  had  to  be  completed  by  Augustus ;  the 
great  schemes  of  Alexander  and  Cromwell  fell  to  the 
ground  because  no  one  arose  to  play  Solomon  to  their 
David. 

The  chronicler  has  specially  emphasised  the  in- 
debtedness of  Solomon  to  David.  According  to  his 
narrative,  the  great  achievement  of  Solomon's  reign, 
the  building  of  the  Temple,  has  been  rendered  possible 
by   David's  preparations.      Quite  apart  from  plans  and 


SOLOMON  193 


materials,  the  chronicler's  view  of  the  credit  due  to 
David  in  this  matter  is  only  a  reasonable  recognition 
of  service  rendered  to  the  religion  of  Israel.  Whoever 
provided  the  timber  and  stone,  the  silver  and  gold, 
for  the  Temple,  David  won  for  Jehovah  the  land  and 
the  city  that  were  the  outer  courts  of  the  sanctuar}^, 
and  roused  the  national  spirit  that  gave  to  Zion  its 
most  solemn  consecration.  Solomon's  temple  was 
alike  the  symbol  of  David's  achievements  and  the 
coping-stone  of  his  work. 

By  compelling  our  attention  to  the  dependence  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace  upon  the  man  who  "  had  shed 
much  blood,"  the  chronicler  admonishes  us  against 
forgetting  the  price  that  has  been  paid  for  liberty  and 
culture.  The  splendid  courtiers  whose  "  apparel  " 
specially  pleased  the  feminine  tastes  of  the  queen  of 
Sheba  might  feel  all  the  contempt  of  the  superior 
person  for  David's  war-worn  veterans.  The  latter 
probably  were  more  at  home  in  the  "  store  cities  "  than 
at  Jerusalem.  But  without  the  blood  and  toil  of  these 
rough  soldiers  Solomon  would  have  had  no  opportunity 
to  exchange  riddles  with  his  fair  visitor  and  to  dazzle  her 
admiring  eyes  with  the  glories  of  his  temple  and  palaces. 

The  blessings  of  peace  are  not  likely  to  be  preserved 
unless  men  still  appreciate  and  cherish  the  stern  virtues 
that  flourish  in  troubled  times.  If  our  own  times  become 
troubled,  and  their  serenity  be  invaded  by  fierce  conflict, 
it  will  be  ours  to  remember  that  the  rugged  life  of  "  the 
hold  in  the  wilderness "  and  the  struggles  with  the 
Philistines  may  enable  a  later  generation  to  build  its 
temple  to  the  Lord  and  to  learn  the  answers  to  "  hard 
questions."  ^     Moses  and  Joshua,  David  and  Solomon, 

'  2  Chron.  ix.  I. 

13 


194  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

remind  us  again  how  the  Divine  work  is  handed  on 
from  generation  to  generation :  Moses  leads  Israel 
through  the  wilderness,  but  Joshua  brings  them  into 
the  Land  of  Promise ;  David  collects  the  materials, 
but  Solomon  builds  the  Temple.  The  settlement  in 
Palestine  and  the  building  of  the  Temple  were  onl}^ 
episodes  in  the  working  out  of  the  **  one  increasing 
purpose,"  but  one  leader  and  one  life-time  did  not  suffice 
for  either  episode.  We  grow  impatient  of  the  scale 
upon  which  God  works  :  we  want  it  reduced  to  the 
limits  of  our  human  faculties  and  of  our  earthly  lives  ; 
yet  all  history  preaches  patience.  In  our  demand  for 
Divine  interventions  v/hereby — 

"...  sudden  in  a  minute 
All  is  accomplished,  and  the  work  is  done," 

we  are  very  Esaus,  eager  to  sell  the  birthright  of  the 
future  for  a  mess  of  pottage  to-day. 

And  the  continuity  of  the  Divine  purpose  is  only 
realised  through  the  .continuity  of  human  effort.  We 
must  indeed  serve  our  own  generation  ;  but  part  of 
that  service  consists  in  providing  that  the  next  genera- 
tion shall  be  trained  to  carry  on  the  work,  and  that 
after  David  shall  come  Solomon — the  Solomon  of 
Chronicles,  and  not  the  Solomon  of  Kings — and  that,  if 
possible,  Solomon  shall  not  be  succeeded  by  Rehoboam. 
As  we  attain  this  larger  outlook,  we  shall  be  less 
tempted  to  employ  doubtful  means,  which  are  supposed 
to  be  justified  by  their  end  ;  we  shall  be  less  enthusi- 
astic for  processes  that  bring  "  quick  returns,"  but  give 
very  ''  small  profits "  in  the  long  run.  Christian 
workers  are  a  fittle  too  fond  of  spiritual  jerry-building, 
as  if  sites  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  were  let  out  on 


SOLOMON  195 


ninety-nine-year  leases ;  but   God   builds   for  eternity, 
and  we  are  fellow-workers  together  with  Him. 

To  complete  the  chronicler's  picture  of  the  ideal 
king,  we  have  to  add  David's  warlike  prowess  and 
Solomon's  wisdom  and  splendour  to  the  piety  and 
graces  common  to  both.  The  result  is  unique  among 
the  many  pictures  that  have  been  drawn  by  historians, 
philosophers,  and  poets.  It  has  a  value  of  its  own, 
because  the  chronicler's  gifts  in  the  way  of  history, 
philosophy,  and  poetry  were  entirely  subordinated  to 
his  interest  in  theology  ;  and  most  theologians  have 
only  been  interested  in  the  doctrine  of  the  king  when 
they  could  use  it  to  gratify  the  vanity  of  a  royal 
patron. 

The  full-length  portrait  in  Chronicles  contrasts 
curiously  with  the  little  vignette  preserved  in  the  book 
which  bears  the  name  of  Solomon.  There,  in  the 
oracle  which  King  Lemuel's  mother  taught  him,  the 
king  is  simply  admonished  to  avoid  strange  women 
and  strong  drink,  to  "judge  righteously,  and  minister 
judgment  to  the  poor  and  needy."  ^ 

To  pass  to  more  modern  theology,  the  theory  of  the 
king  that  is  implied  in  Chronicles  has  much  in  common 
with  Wyclif's  doctrine  of  dominion  :  they  both  recog- 
nise the  sanctity  of  the  royal  power  and  its  temporal 
supremacy,  and  they  both  hold  that  obedience  to  God 
is  the  condition  of  the  continued  exercise  of  legitimate 
rule.  But  the  priest  of  Lutterworth  was  less  ecclesi- 
astical and  more  democratic  than  our  Levite. 

A  more  orthodox  authority  on  the  Protestant  doctrine 
of  the  king  would  be  the  Thirty-nine  Articles.  These, 
however,  deal  with  the  subject  somewhat  slightly.     As 


'  Prov.  xxxi.  1-9. 


196  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

far  as  they  go,  they  are  in  harmony  with  the  chronicler. 
They  assert  the  unquaHfied  supremacy  of  the  king, 
both  ecclesiastical  and  civil.  Even  "  general  councils 
may  not  be  gathered  together  without  the  command- 
ment and  will  of  princes."  ^  On  the  other  hand,  princes 
are  not  to  imitate  Uzziah  in  presuming  to  exercise 
the  priestly  function  of  offering  incense  :  they  are  not 
to  minister  God's  word  or  sacraments. 

Outside  theology  the  ideal  of  the  king  has  been 
stated  with  greater  fulness  and  freedom,  but  not  many 
of  the  pictures  drawn  have  much  in  common  with  the 
chronicler's  David  and  Solomon.  Machiavelli's  prince 
and  Bolingbroke's  patriot  king  belong  to  a  different 
world  ;  moreover,  their  method  is  philosophical,  and 
not  historical  :  they  state  a  theory  rather  than  draw 
a  picture.  Tennyson's  Arthur  is,  what  he  himself 
calls  him,  an  "  ideal  knight "  rather  than  an  ideal 
king.  Perhaps  the  best  parallels  to  David  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Cyrus  of  the  Greek  historians  and 
philosophers  and  the  Alfred  of  English  story.  Alfred 
indeed  combines  many  of  the  features  both  of  David 
and  Solomon :  he  secured  English  unity,  and  was 
the  founder  of  English  culture  and  literature ;  he 
had  a  keen  interest  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  great 
gifts  of  administration,  and  much  personal  attractive- 
ness. Cyrus,  again,  specially  illustrates  what  we  ma}'' 
call  the  posthumous  fortunes  of  David  :  his  name 
stood  for  the  ideal  of  kingship  with  both  Greeks 
and  Persians,  and  in  the  Cyropcedia  his  life  and  cha- 
racter are  made  the  basis  of  a  picture  of  the  ideal 
king. 

Many  points   are  of  course   common   to  almost  all 

'  Articles  XXI.  and  XXXVII. 


SOLOMON  197 


such  pictures ;  they  portray  the  king  as  a  capable  and 
benevolent  ruler  and  a  man  of  high  personal  character. 
The  distinctive  characteristic  of  Chronicles  is  the  stress 
laid  on  the  piety  of  the  king,  his  care  for  the  honour  of 
God  and  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  subjects.  If  the 
practical  influence  of  this  teaching  has  not  been 
altogether  beneficent,  it  is  because  men  have  too 
invariably  connected  spiritual  profit  with  organisation, 
and  ceremonies,  and  forms  of  words,  sound  or 
otherwise. 

But  to-day  the  doctrine  of  the  state  takes  the  place 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  king.  Instead  of  Cyropaedias  we 
have  Utopias.  We  are  asked  sometimes  to  look  back, 
not  to  an  ideal  king,  but  to  an  ideal  commonwealth,  to 
the  age  of  the  Antonines  or  to  some  happy  century  of 
English  history  when  we  are  told  that  the  human  race 
or  the  English  people  were  **  most  happy  and  pros- 
perous " ;  oftener  we  are  invited  to  contemplate  an 
imaginary  future.  \ye  may  add  to  those  already  made 
one  or  two  further  applications  of  the  chronicler's 
principles  to  the  modern  state.  His  method  suggests 
that  the  perfect  society  will  have  the  virtues  of  our 
actual  life  without  its  vices,  and  that  the  possibilities 
of  the  future  are  best  divined  from  a  careful  study  of 
the  past.  The  devotion  of  his  kings  to  the  Temple 
symbolises  the  truth  that  the  ideal  state  is  impossible 
without  recognition  of  a  Divine  presence  and  obedience 
to  a  Divine  will. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    WICKED  KINGS 
2  Chron.   xxviii.,  etc. 

THE  type  of  the  wicked  king  is  not  worked  out 
with  any  fulness  in  Chronicles.  There  are 
wicked  kings,  but  no  one  is  raised  to  the  "  bad 
eminence "  of  an  evil  counterpart  to  David  ;  there  is 
no  anti-David,  so  to  speak,  no  prototype  of  antichrist. 
The  story  of  Ahaz,  for  instance,  is  not  given  at  the 
same  length  and  with  the  same  wealth  of  detail  as  that 
of  David.  The  subject  was  not  so  congenial  to  the 
kindly  heart  of  the  chronicler.  He  was  not  imbued  with 
the  unhappy  spirit  of  modern  realism,  which  loves  to 
dwell  on  all  that  is  foul  and  ghastly  in  life  and  cha- 
racter ;  he  lingered  affectionately  over  his  heroes,  and 
contented  himself  with  brief  notices  of  his  villains.  In 
so  doing  he  was  largely  following  his  main  authority  : 
the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings.  There  too  the  stories 
of  David  and  Solomon,  of  Elijah  and  Ehsha,  are  told 
much  more  fully  than  those  of  Jeroboam  and  Ahab. 

But  the  mention  of  these  names  reminds  us  that 
the  chronicler's  limitation  of  his  subject  to  the  history 
of  Judah  excludes  much  of  the  material  that  might 
have  been  drawn  from  the  earlier  history  for  a  picture 
of  the  wicked  king.  If  it  had  been  part  of  the 
chronicler's  plan  to  tell  the  story  of  Ahab,  he   might 

198 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE   WICKED   KINGS  199 

have  been  led  to  develop  his  material  and  moralise 
upon  the  king's  career  till  the  narrative  assumed 
proportions  that  would  have  rivalled  the  history  of 
David.  Over  against  the  great  scene  that  closed 
David's  life  might  have  been  set  another  summing 
up  in  one  dramatic  moment  the  guilt  and  ruin  of  Ahab. 
But  these  schismatic  kings  were  "  alienated  from  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel  and  strangers  from  the 
covenants  of  the  promise,  having  no  hope  and  without 
God  in  the  world."  "^  The  disobedient  sons  of  the 
house  of  David  were  still  children  within  the  home, 
who  might  be  rebuked  and  punished  ;  but  the  Samaritan 
kings,  as  the  chronicler  might  style  them,  were  outcasts, 
left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  dogs,  and  sorcerers,  and 
murderers  that  were  without  the  Holy  City,  Cains  with- 
out any  protecting  mark  upon  their  forehead. 

Hence  the  wicked  kings  in  Chronicles  are  of  the 
house  of  David.  Therefore  the  chronicler  has  a 
certain  tenderness  for  them,  partly  for  the  sake  of 
their  great  ancestor,  partly  because  they  are  kings 
of  Judah,  partly  because  of  the  sanctity  and  religious 
significance  of  the  Messianic  dynasty.  These  kings 
are  not  Esaus,  for  whom  there  is  no  place  of  repent- 
ance. The  chronicler  is  happy  in  being  able  to  dis- 
cover and  record  the  conversion,  as  we  should  term  it, 
of  some  kings  whose  reigns  began  in  rebellion  and 
apostacy.  By  a  curious  compensation,  the  kings  who 
begin  well  end  badly,  and  those  who  begin  badly  end 
well ;  they  all  tend  to  about  the  same  average.  We 
read  of  Rehoboam^  that  "  when  he  humbled  himself 
the  wrath  of  the  Lord  turned  from  him,  that  he  would 
not  destroy  him   altogether;  and,  moreover,  in  Judah 

'  Epli.  ii.  12. 

^  2  Chron.  xii.  12,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


there  were  good  things  found " ;  the  wickedness  of 
Abijah,  which  is  plainly  set  forth  in  the  book  of 
Kings/  is  ignored  in  Chronicles ;  Manasseh  "  humbled 
himself  greatly  before  the  God  of  his  fathers,"  and 
turned  altogether  from  the  error  of  his  ways^ ;  the 
unfavourable  judgment  on  Jehoahaz  recorded  in  the 
book  of  Kings,  **  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  his  fathers 
had  done,"^  is  omitted  in  Chronicles. 

There  remain  seven  wicked  kings  of  whom  nothing 
but  evil  is  recorded  :  Jehoram,  Ahaziah,  Ahaz,  Amon, 
Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin,  and  Zedekiah.  Of  these  we 
may  take  Ahaz  as  the  most  typical  instance.  As  in  the 
cases  of  David  and  Solomon,  we  will  first  see  how  the 
chronicler  has  dealt  with  the  material  derived  from  the 
book  of  Kings  ;  then  we  will  give  his  account  of  the 
career  of  Ahaz  ;  and  finally,  by  a  brief  comparison  of 
what  is  told  of  Ahaz  with  the  history  of.  the  other 
wicked  kings,  we  will  try  to  construct  the  chronicler's 
idea  of  the  wicked  king  and  to  deduce  its  lessons. 

The  importance  of  the  additions  made  by  the  chroni- 
cler to  the  history  in  the  book  of  Kings  will  appear 
later  on.  In  his  account  of  the  attack  made  upon 
Ahaz  by  Rezin,  king  of  Damascus,  and  Pekah,  king  of 
Israel,  he  emphasises  the  incidents  most  discreditable 
to  Ahaz.  The  book  of  Kings  simply  states  that  the 
two  allies  "  came  up  to  Jerusalem  to  war ;  and  they 
besieged  Ahaz,  but  could  not  overcome  him  "  * ;  Chroni- 
cles dwells  upon  the  sufferings  and  losses  inflicted  on 
Judah  by  this  invasion.  The  book  of  Kings  might 
have  conveyed  the  impression  that  the  wicked  king 
had    been    allowed    to    triumph    over    his    enemies ; 

'  I   Kings  XV.  3.  '  2  Kings  xxiii.  33. 

■^  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  II-20,  peculiar  to  Chronicles.       ^  2  Kings  xvi.  5. 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED   KINGS  201 

Chronicles  guards  against  this  dangerous  error  by- 
detailing  the  disasters  that  Ahaz  brought  upon  his 
country. 

The  book  of  Kings  also  contains  an  interesting 
account  of  alterations  made  by  Ahaz  in  the  Temple 
and  its  furniture.  By  his  orders  the  high-priest  Urijah 
made  a  new  brazen  altar  for  the  Temple  after  the 
pattern  of  an  altar  that  Ahaz  had  seen  in  Damascus. 
As  Chronicles  narrates  the  closing  of  the  Temple  by 
Ahaz,  it  naturally  omits  these  previous  alterations. 
Moreover,  Urijah  appears  in  the  book  of  Isaiah  as  a 
friend  of  the  prophet,  and  is  referred  to  by  him  as  a 
"  faithful  witness."  ^  The  chronicler  would  not  wish 
to  perplex  his  readers  with  the  problem,  How  could 
the  high-priest,  whom  Isaiah  trusted  as  a  faithful 
witness,  become  the  agent  of  a  wicked  king,  and  con- 
struct an  altar  for  Jehovah  after  a  heathen  pattern  ? 

The  chronicler's  story  of  Ahaz  runs  thus.  This 
wicked  king  had  been  preceded  by  three  good  kings  : 
Amaziah,  Uzziah,  and  Jotham.  Amaziah  indeed  had 
turned  away  from  following  Jeh®vah  at  the  end  of 
his  reign,  but  Uzziah  had  been  zealous  for  Jehovah 
throughout,  not  wisely,  but  too  well ;  and  Jotham 
shares  with  Solomon  the  honour  of  a  blameless  record. 
Without  counting  Amaziah's  reign,  king  and  people 
had  been  loyal  to  Jehovah  for  sixty  or  seventy  years. 
The  court  of  the  good  kings  would  be  the  centre  of 
piety  and  devotion.  Ahaz,  no  doubt,  had  been  carefully 
trained  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  Jehovah,  and  had 
grown  up  in  the  atmosphere  of  true  religion.  Possibly 
he  had  known  his  grandfather  Uzziah  in  the  days  of 
his  power  and  glory ;  but  at  any  rate,  while  Ahaz  was 

'  Isa.  viii.  2. 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


a  child,  Uzziah  was  living  as  a  leper  in  his  "  several 
house,"  and  Ahaz  must  have  been  familiar  with  this 
melancholy  warning  against  presumptuous  interference 
with  the  Divine  ordinances  of  worship. 

Ahaz  was  twenty  years  old  when  he  came  to  the 
throne,  so  that  he  had  time  to  profit  by  a  complete 
education,  and  should  scarcely  have  found  opportunity 
to  break  away  from  its  influence.  His  mother's  name 
is  not  mentioned,  so  that'  we  cannot  say  whether,  as 
may  have  been  the  case  with  Rehoboam,  som.e  Ammonite 
woman  led  him  astray  from  the  God  of  his  fathers. 
As  far  as  we  can  learn  from  our  author,  Ahaz  sinned 
against  light  and  knowledge ;  with  every  opportunity 
and  incentive  to  keep  in  the  right  path,  he  yet  went 
astray. 

This  is  a  common  feature  in  the  careers  of  the  wicked 
kings.  It  has  often  been  remarked  that  the  first  great 
specialist  on  education  failed  utterly  in  the  application 
of  his  theories  to  his  own  son.  Jehoshaphat,  Hezekiah, 
and  Josiah  were  the  most  distinguished  and  the  most 
virtuous  of  the  reforming  kings,  yet  Jehoshaphat  was 
succeeded  by  Jehoram,  who  was  almost  as  wicked  as 
Ahaz ;  Hezekiah's  son  "  Manasseh  made  Judah  and 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  to  err,  so  that  they  did 
evil  more  than  did  the  nations  whom  the  Lord  destroyed 
before  the  children  of  Israel  "  ;  ^  Josiah's  son  and  grand- 
sons **did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord."^ 

Many  reasons  may  be  suggested  for  this  too  familiar 
spectacle  :  the  impious  son  of  a  godly  father,  the  bad 
successor  of  a  good  king.  Heirs-apparent  have  always 
been  inclined  to  head  an  opposition  to  their  fathers' 
policy,  and    sometimes    on   their   accession  they   have 

'  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  9.  ^2  Chron.  xxxvi.  5,  8,  II. 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED   KINGS  203 

reversed  that  policy.  When  the  father  himself  has 
been  a  zealous  reformer,  the  interests  that  have  been 
harassed  by  reform  are  eager  to  encourage  his  successor 
in  a  retrograde  policy ;  and  reforming  zeal  is  often 
tinged  with  an  inconsiderate  harshness  that  provokes 
the  opposition  of  younger  and  brighter  spirits.  But, 
after  all,  this  atavism  in  kings  is  chiefly  an  illustration 
of  the  slow  growth  of  the  higher  nature  in  man.  Prac- 
tically each  generation  starts  afresh  with  an  unre- 
generate  nature  of  its  own,  and  often  nature  is  too 
strong  for  education. 

Moreover,  a  young  king  of  Judah  was  subject  to  the 
evil  influence  of  his  northern  neighbour.  Judah  was 
often  politically  subservient  to  Samaria,  and  politics  and 
religion  have  always  been  very  intimately  associated. 
At  the  accession  of  Ahaz  the  throne  of  Samaria  was 
filled  by  Pekah,  whose  twenty  years'  tenure  of  authority 
indicates  ability  and  strength  of  character.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  how  Ahaz  was  led  "  to  walk 
in  the  ways  of  the  kings  of  Israel  "  and  "  to  make 
molten  images  for  the  Baals." 

Nothing  is  told  us  of  the  actual  circumstances  of 
these  innovations.  The  new  reign  was  probably  in- 
augurated by  the  dismissal  of  Jotham's  ministers  and 
the  appointment  of  the  personal  favourites  of  the  new 
king.  The  restoration  of  old  idolatrous  cults  would  be 
a  natural  advertisement  of  a  new  departure  in  the 
government.  So  when  the  establishment  of  Christi- 
anity was  a  novelty  in  the  empire,  and  men  were  not 
assured  of  its  permanence,  Julian's  accession  was 
accompanied  by  an  apostacy  to  paganism  ;  and  later 
aspirants  to  the  purple  promised  to  follow  his  example. 
But  the  worship  of  Jehovah  was  not  at  once  sup- 
pressed.    He  was  not  deposed  from  His  throne  as  the 

V  t  * 


204  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Divine  King  of  Judah  ;  He  was  only  called  upon  to 
share  His  royal  authority  with  the  Baals  of  the  neigh- 
bouring peoples. 

But  although  the  Temple  services'  might  still  be 
performed,  the  king  v.'as  mainly  interested  in  intro- 
ducing and  observing  a  variety  of  heathen  rites.  The 
priesthood  of  the  Temple  saw  their  exclusive  privileges 
disregarded  and  the  rival  sanctuaries  of  the  high  places 
and  the  sacred  trees  taken  under  royal  patronage- 
But  the  king's  apostacy  was  not  confined  to  the  milder 
forms  of  idolatry.  His  weak  mind  was  irresistibly 
attracted  by  the  morbid  fascination  of  the  cruel  rites 
of  Moloch  :  *'  He  burnt  incense  in  the  valley  of  the 
son  of  Hinnom,  and  burnt  his  children  in  the  fire, 
according  to  the  abomination  of  the  heathen,  whom  the 
Lord  cast  out  before  the  children  of  Israel." 

The  king's  devotions  to  his  new  gods  were  rudely 
interrupted.  The  insulted  majesty  of  Jehovah  was 
vindicated  by  two  disastrous  invasions.  First,  Ahaz 
was  defeated  by  Rezin,  king  of  Syria,  who  carried 
away  a  great  multitude  of  captives  to  Damascus ;  the 
next  enemy  was  one  of  those  kings  of  Israel  in  whose 
idolatrous  ways  Ahaz  had  chosen  to  walk.  The  delicate 
flattery  implied  by  Ahaz  becoming  Pekah's  proselyte 
failed  to  conciliate  that  monarch.  He  too  defeated 
the  Jews  with  great  slaughter.  Amongst  his  warriors 
was  a  certain  Zichri,  whose  achievements  recalled  the 
prowess  of  David's  mighty  men :  he  slew  Maaseiah 
the  king's  son  and  Azrikam,  the  ruler  of  the  house, 
the  Lord  High  Chamberlain,  and  Elkanah,  that  was 
next  unto  the  king,  the  Prime  Minister.  With  these 
notables,  there  perished  in  a  single  day  a  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  Jews,  all  of  them  valiant  men.  l^heir 
wives  and    children,  to    the    number   of  two   hundred 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED   KINGS  205 

thousand,  were  carried  captive  to  Samaria.  All  these 
misfortunes  happened  to  Judah  "  because  they  had 
forsaken  Jehovah,  the  God  of  their  fathers." 

And  yet  Jehovah  in  wrath  remembered  mercy.  The 
Israelite  army  approached  Samaria  with  their  endless 
train  of  miserable  captives,  women  and  children,  ragged 
and  barefoot,  some  even  naked,  filthy  and  footsore  with 
forced  marches,  left  hungry  and  thirsty  after  prisoners' 
scanty  rations.  Multiply  a  thousandfold  the  scenes 
depicted  on  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  monuments,  and 
you  have  the  picture  of  this  great  slave  caravan.  The 
captives  probably  had  no  reason  to  fear  the  bar- 
barities which  the  Assyrians  loved  to  inflict  upon  their 
prisoners,  but  yet  their  prospects  were  sufficiently 
gloomy.  Before  them  lay  a  life  of  drudgery  and 
degradation  in  Samaria.  The  more  wealthy  might 
hope  to  be  ransomed  by  their  friends  ;  others,  again, 
might  be  sold  to  the  Phoenician  traders,  to  be  carried 
by  them  to  the  great  slave  marts  of  Nineveh  and 
Babylon  or  even  oversea  to  Greece.  But  in  a  moment 
all  was  changed.  "  There  was  a  prophet  of  Jehovah, 
whose  name  was  Oded,  and  he  went  out  to  meet  the 
army  and  said  unto  them.  Behold,  because  Jehovah, 
the  God  of  your  fathers,  was  wroth  with  Judah,  He 
hath  delivered  them  into  your  hand  ;  and  ye  have  slain 
them  in  a  rage  which  hath  reached  up  unto  heaven. 
And  now  ye  purpose  to  keep  the  children  of  Judah  and 
of  Jerusalem  for  male  and  female  slaves ;  but  are  there 
not  even  with  you  trespasses  of  your  own  against 
Jehovah  your  God  ?  Now  hear  me  therefore,  and  send 
back  the  captives,  for  the  fierce  wrath  of  Jehovah  is 
upon  you." 

Meanwhile  "  the  princes  and  all  the  congregation 
of  Samaria  "  were  waiting  to  welcome  their  victorious 


2o6  THE   BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

army,  possibly  in  "  the   void  place  at   the  entering  in 
of  the  gate  of  Samaria."     Ocled's  words,  at  any  rate, 
had  been  uttered  in  their  presence.     The  army  did  not 
at  once  respond  to  the  appeal ;  the  two  hundred  thou- 
sand slaves  were  the  most  valuable  part  of  their  spoil, 
and  they  were  not  eager  to  make  so  great  a  sacrifice. 
But    the    princes    made    Oded's    message    their    own. 
Four  heads  of  the  children  of  Ephraim  are  mentioned 
by  name  as  the  spokesmen  of  the  "  congregation,"  the 
king  being  apparently  absent   on   some  other  warlike 
expedition.      These    four    were    Azariah    the    son    of 
Johanan,  Berechiah  the  son  of  Meshillemoth,  Jehizkiah 
the    son    of  Shallum,   and  Amasa  the  son  of  Hadlai. 
Possibly  among  the  children  of  Ephraim  who  dwelt  in 
Jerusalem  after  the  Return  there  were  descendants  of 
these    men,  from    whom    the    chronicler    obtained    the 
particulars  of  this    incident.     The  princes   "  stood  up 
against  them   that   came   from  the   war,"    and  forbade 
their  bringing  the  captives  into  the  city.     They  repeated 
and  expanded  the  words  of  the  prophet  :  "  Ye  purpose 
that    which    will    bring    upon     us    a    trespass    against 
Jehovah,  to  add  unto  our  sins  and  to  our  trespass,  for 
our  trespass  is  great,  and  there  is  fierce  wrath  against 
Israel."      The    army    were    either    convinced    by   the 
eloquence  or  overawed  by  the  authority  of  the  prophet 
and  the  princes  :  "  They  left  the  captives  and  the  spoil 
before  all  the  princes  and  the  congregation."     And  the 
four  princes  "  rose  up,  and  took  the  captives,  and  with 
the  spoil  clothed  all  that  were  naked  among  them,  and 
arrayed  them,  and  shod  them,  and  gave  them  to  eat  and 
to  drink,  and  anointed  them,  and  carried  all  the  feeble 
of  them  upon  asses,  and  brought  them  to  Jericho,  the 
city    of  palm    trees,    unto    their    brethren  ;    then    they 
returned  to  Samaria." 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED   KINGS  207 

Apart  from  incidental  allusions,  this  is  the  last  re- 
ference in  Chronicles  to  the  northern  kingdom.  The 
long  history  of  division  and  hostility  closes  with  this 
humane  recognition  of  the  brotherhood  of  Israel  and 
Judah.  The  sun,  so  to  speak,  did  not  go  down  upon 
their  wrath.  But  the  king  of  Israel  had  no  personal 
share  in  this  gracious  act.  At  the  first  it  was  Jeroboam 
that  made  Israel  to  sin ;  throughout  the  history  the 
responsibility  for  the  continued  division  would  specially 
rest  upon  the  kings,  and  at  the  last  there  is  no  sign  of 
Pekah's  repentance  and  no  prospect  of  his  pardon. 

The  various  incidents  of  the  invasions  of  Rezin  and 
Pekah  were  alike  a  solemn  warning  and  an  impressive 
appeal  to  the  apostate  king  of  Judah.  He  had  multiplied 
to  himself  gods  of  the  nations  round  about,  and  yet  had 
been  left  without  an  ally,  at  the  mercy  of  a  hostile 
confederation,  against  whom  his  new  gods  either  could 
not  or  would  not  defend  him.  The  wrath  of  Jehovah 
had  brought  upon  Ahaz  one  crushing  defeat  after 
another,  and  yet  the  only  mitigation  of  the  sufferings  of 
Judah  had  also  been  the  work  of  Jehovah.  The  return- 
ing captives  would  tell  Ahaz  and  his  princes  how  in 
schismatic  and  idolatrous  Samaria  a  prophet  of  Jehovah 
had  stood  forth  to  secure  their  release  and  obtain  for 
them  permission  to  return  home.  The  princes  and 
people  of  Samaria  had  hearkened  to  his  message,  and 
the  two  hundred  thousand  captives  stood  there  as  the 
monument  of  Jehovah's  compassion  and  of  the  obedient 
piety  of  Israel.  Sin  was  bound  to  bring  punishment ; 
and  yet  Jehovah  waited  to  be  gracious.  Wherever  there 
was  room  for  mercy.  He  would  show  mercy.  His  wrath 
and  His  compassion  had  alike  been  displayed  before 
Ahaz.  Other  gods  could  not  protect  their  worshippers 
against   Him ;  He  only  could  deliver  and  restore   His 


2o8  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

people.  He  had  not  even  waited  for  Ahaz  to  repent 
before  He  had  given  him  proof  of  His  wilHngness  to 
forgive/ 

Such  Divine  goodness  was  thrown  away  upon  Ahaz  ; 
there  was  no  token  of  repentance,  no  promise  of  amend- 
ment ;  and  so  Jehovah  sent  further  judgments  upon  the 
king  and  his  unhappy  people.  The  Edomitescame  and 
smote  Judah,  and  carried  away  captives ;  the  Philistines 
also  invaded  the  cities  of  the  lowland  and  of  the  south 
of  Judah,  and  took  Beth-shemesh,  Aijalon,  Gederoth, 
Soco,  Timnah,  Gimzo,  and  their  dependent  villages,  and 
dwelt  in  them  ;  and  Jehovah  brought  Judah  low  because 
of  Ahaz.  And  the  king  hardened  his  heart  yet  more 
against  Jehovah,  and  cast  away  all  restraint,  and 
trespassed  sore  against  Jehovah.  Instead  of  submitting 
himself,  he  sought  the  aid  of  the  kings  of  Assyria,  only 
to  receive  another  proof  of  the  vanity  of  all  earthly  help 
so  long  as  he  remained  unreconciled  to  Heaven. 
Tilgath-pilneser,  king  of  Assyria,  welcomed  this  oppor- 
tunity of  interfering  in  the  affairs  of  Western  Asia,  and 
saw  attractive  prospects  of  levying  blackmail  impartially 
on  his  ally  and  his  enemies.  He  came  unto  Ahaz,  **  and 
distressed  him,  but  strengthened  him  not."  These  new 
troubles  were  the  occasion  of  fresh  wickedness  on  the 
part  of  the  king :  to  pay  the  price  of  this  worse  than 
useless  intervention,  he  took  away  a  portion  not  only 
from  his  own  treasury  and  from  the  princes,  but  also 
from  the  treasury  of  the  Temple,  and  gave  it  to  the  king 
of  Assyria. 

Thus  betrayed  and  plundered  by  his  new  ally,  he 
trespassed  "  yet  more  against  Jehovah,  this  same  king 
Ahaz."     It  is  almost  incredible  that  one  man  could  be 

'  2  Chron.  xxviii.  S~lSi  peculiar  to  Chronicles  ;  cf.  2  Kings  xvi.  5i  6. 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED   KINGS  209 

guilty  of  so  much  sin ;  the  chronicler  is  anxious  that 
his  readers  should  appreciate  the  extraordinary  wicked- 
ness of  this  man,  this  same  king  Ahaz.  In  him  the 
chastening  of  the  Lord  yielded  no  peaceable  fruit  of 
righteousness ;  he  would  not  see  that  his  misfortunes 
were  sent  from  the  offended  God  of  Israel.  With 
perverse  ingenuity,  he  found  in  them  an  incentive  to 
yet  further  wickedness.  His  pantheon  was  not  large 
enough.  He  had  omitted  to  worship  the  gods  of 
Damascus.  These  must  be  powerful  deities,  whom  it 
would  be  worth  while  to  conciliate,  because  they  had 
enabled  the  kings  of  Syria  to  overrun  and  pillage  Judah. 
Therefore  Ahaz  sacrificed  to  the  gods  of  Syria,  that  they 
might  help  him.  "  But,"  says  the  chronicler,  "  they  were 
the  ruin  of  him  and  of  all  Israel."  Still  Ahaz  went  on 
consistently  with  his  policy  of  comprehensive  eclecticism. 
He  made  Jerusalem  a  very  Athens  for  altars,  v/hich  were 
set  up  at  every  street  corner ;  he  discovered  yet  other 
gods  whom  it  might  be  advisable  to  adore  :  ''  And  in 
every  several  city  of  Judah  he  made  high  places  to  burn 
incense  unto  other  gods." 

Hitherto  Jehovah  had  still  received  some  share  of 
the  worship  of  this  most  religious  king,  but  apparently 
Ahaz  came  to  regard  Him  as  the  least  powerful  of  his 
many  supernatural  allies.  He  attributed  his  misfortunes, 
not  to  the  anger,  but  to  the  helplessness,  of  Jehovah. 
Jehovah  was  specially  the  God  of  Israel  ;  if  disaster 
after  disaster  fell  upon  His  people,  He  was  evidently 
less  potent  than  Baal,  or  Moloch,  or  Rimmon.  It  was 
a  useless  expense  to  maintain  the  worship  of  so  im- 
potent a  deity.  Perhaps  the  apostate  king  was  acting 
in  the  blasphemous  spirit  of  the  savage  who  flogs  his 
idol  when  his  prayers  are  not  answered.  Jehovah,  he 
thought,  should  be  punished  for  His  neglect  of  the  in- 

14 


THE  BOOKS   OF   CHRONICLES 


terests  of  Judah.  "  Ahaz  gathered  together  the  vessels 
of  the  house  of  God,  and  cut  in  pieces  the  vessels  of 
the  house  of  God,  and  shut  up  the  doors  of  the  house 
of  Jehovah " ;  ^  he  had  filled  up  the  measure  of  his 
iniquities. 

And  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  Holy  City, 
**  which  Jehovah  had  chosen  to  cause  His  name  to 
dwell  there,"  almost  the  only  deity  who  was  not  wor- 
shipped was  Jehovah.  Ahaz  did  homage  to  the  gods 
of  all  the  nations  before  whom  he  had  been  humiliated ; 
the  royal  sacrifices  smoked  upon  a  hundred  altars,  but 
no  sweet  savour  of  burnt  offering  ascended  to  Jehovah. 
The  fragrance  of  the  perpetual  incense  no  longer  filled 
the  holy  place  morning  and  evening ;  the  seven  lamps 
of  the  golden  candlestick  were  put  out,  and  the  Temple 
was  given  up  to  darkness  and  desolation.  Ahaz  had 
contented  himself  with  stripping  the  sanctuary  of  its 
treasures ;  but  the  building  itself,  though  closed,  suffered 
no  serious  injury.  A  stranger  visiting  the  city,  and 
finding  it  full  of  idols,  could  not  fail  to  notice  the  great 
pile  of  the  Temple  and  to  inquire  what  image,  splendid 
above  all  others,  occupied  that  magnificent  shrine. 
Like  Pompey,  he  would  learn  with  surprise  that  it  was 
not  the  dwelling-place  of  any  image,  but  the  symbol 
of  an  almighty  and  invisible  presence.  Even  if  the 
stranger  were  some  Moabite  worshipper  of  Chemosh, 
he  would  feel  dismay  at  the  wanton  profanity  with 
which  Ahaz  had  abjured  the  God  of  his  fathers  and 
desecrated  the  temple  built  by  his  great  ancestors. 
The  annals  of  Egypt  and  Babylon  told  of  the  misfor- 
tunes which  had  befallen  those  monarchs  who  were 
unfaithful  to  their  national  gods.     The  pious  heathen 

'  2  Chron.  xxviii.  16-25,  peculiar  to  Chronicles ;  cf.  2  Kings 
xvi.  7-18. 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED  KINGS  211 

would  anticipate  disaster  as  the  punishment  of  Ahaz's 
apostacy. 

Meanwhile  the  ministers  of  the  Temple  shared  its 
ruin  and  degradation ;  but  they  could  feel  the  assur- 
ance that  Jehovah  would  yet  recall  His  people  to  their 
allegiance  and  manifest  Himself  once  more  in  the 
Temple.  The  house  of  Aaron  and  the  tribe  of  Levi 
possessed  their  souls  in  patience  till  the  final  judgment 
of  Jehovah  should  fall  upon  the  apostate.  They  had  not 
long  to  wait :  after  a  reign  of  only  sixteen  years,  Ahaz 
died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-six.  We  are  not  told 
that  he  died  in  battle  or  by  the  visitation  of  God.  His 
health  may  have  been  broken  by  his  many  misfortunes, 
or  by  vicious  practices  that  would  naturally  accompany 
his  manifold  idolatries ;  but  in  any  case  his  early  death 
would  be  regarded  as  a  Divine  judgment.  The  breath 
was  scarcely  out  of  his  body  before  his  religious  innova- 
tions were  swept  away  by  a  violent  reaction.  The 
people  at  once  passed  sentence  of  condemnation  on  his 
memory  :  "  They  brought  him  not  into  the  sepulchres  of 
the  kings  of  Israel."^  His  successor  inaugurated  his 
reign  by  reopening  the  Temple,  and  brought  back 
Judah  to  the  obedience  of  Jehovah.  The  monuments 
of  the  impious  worship  of  the  wicked  king,  his  multi- 
tudinous idols,  and  their  ritual  passed  away  like  an  evil 
dream,  like  "the  track  of  a  ship  in  the  sea  or  a  bird 
in  the  air." 

The  leading  features  of  this  career  are  common  to 
most  of  the  wicked  kings  and  to  the  evil  days  of  the 
good  kings.  "  Walking  in  the  ways  of  the  kings  of 
Israel  "  was  the  great  crime  of  Jehoshaphat  and  his 
successors  Jehoram   and   Ahaziah.     Other   kings,   like 

'  xxviii.  27,  peculiar  to  Chronicles, 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Manasseh,  built  high  places  and  followed  after  the 
abominations  of  the  heathen  whom  Jehovah  cast  out 
before  the  children  of  Israel.  Asa's  lapse  into  wicked- 
ness began  by  plundering  the  Temple  treasury  to 
purchase  an  alliance  with  a  heathen  king,  the  king 
of  Syria,  against  whose  successor  Ahaz  in  his  turn 
hired  the  king  of  Assyria.  Amaziah  adopted  the  gods 
of  Edom,  as  Ahaz  the  gods  of  Syria,  but  with  less 
excuse,  for  Amaziah  had  conquered  Edom.  Other 
crimes  are  recorded  among  the  evil  doings  of  the 
kings :  Asa  had  recourse  to  physicians,  that  is, 
probably  to  magic ;  Jehoram  slew  his  brethren  ;  Joash 
murdered  the  son  of  his  benefactor  Jehoiada ;  but 
the  supreme  sin  was  disloyalty  to  Jehovah  and  the 
Temple,  and  of  this  sin  the  chronicler's  brief  history 
of  Ahaz  is  the  most  striking  illustration.  Ahaz  is  the 
typical  apostate :  he  hardens  his  heart  alike  against 
the  mercy  of  Jehovah  and  against  His  repeated  judg- 
ment. He  is  a  very  Pharaoh  among  the  kings  of 
Judah.  The  discipline  that  should  have  led  to  repent- 
ance is  continually  perverted  to  be  the  occasion  of  new 
sin,  and  at  last  the  apostate  dies  in  his  iniquity.  The 
effect  of  the  picture  is  heightened  by  its  insistence  on 
this  one  sin  of  apostacy  ;  other  sins  are  illustrated  and 
condemned  elsewhere,  but  here  the  chronicler  would 
have  us  concentrate  our  attention  on  the  rise,  progress, 
and  ruin  of  the  apostate.  Indeed,  this  one  sin  im- 
plied and  involved  all  others  ;  the  man  who  suppressed 
the  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  revelled  in  the  obscene 
superstitions  of  heathen  cults,  was  obviously  capable 
of  any  enormity.  The  chronicler  is  not  indifferent 
to  morality  as  compared  with  ritual,  and  he  sees  in  the 
neglect  of  Divinely  appointed  ritual  an  indication  of 
a  character  rotten   through  and  through.     In  his  time 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED  KINGS  213 

neglect  of  ritual  on  the  part  of  the  average  man  or 
the  average  king  implied  neglect  of  religion,  or  rather 
adherence  to  an  alien  and  immoral  faith. 

Thus  the  supreme  sin  of  the  wicked  kings  naturally 
contrasts  with  the  highest  virtue  of  the  good  kings. 
The  standing  of  both  is  determined  by  their  attitude 
towards  Jehovah.  The  character  of  the  good  kings 
is  developed  in  greater  detail  than  that  of  their  wicked 
brethren ;  but  we  should  not  misrepresent  the  chronicler's 
views,  if  we  ascribed  to  the  wicked  kings  all  the  vices 
antithetic  to  the  virtues  of  his  royal  ideal.  Never- 
theless the  picture  actually  drawn  fixes  our  attention 
upon  their  impious  denial  of  the  God  of  Israel.  Much 
Church  history  has  been  written?-on  the  same  principle  : 
Constantine  is  a  saint  because  he  established  Chris- 
tianity ;  Julian  is  an  irwrarnation  of  wickedness  because 
he  became  an  apostate  ;  we  praise  the  orthodox  Theo- 
dosius,  and  blame  the  Arian  Valens.  Protestant  his- 
torians have  canonised  Henry  VIII.  and  EUzabeth, 
and  have  prefixed  an  unholy  epithet  to  the  name  of 
their  kinswoman,  while  Romanist  writers  interchange 
these  verdicts.  But  underlying  even  such  opposite 
judgments  there  is  the  same  valid  principle,  the 
principle  that  was  in  the  mind  of  the  chronicler  :  that 
the  king's  relation  to  the  highest  and  purest  truth 
accessible  to  him,  whatever  that  truth  may  be,  is  a 
just  criterion  of  his  whole  character.  The  historian 
may  err  in  applying  the  criterion,  but  its  general 
principle  is  none  the  less  sound. 

For  the  character  of  the  wicked  nation  we  are  not 
left  to  the  general  suggestions  that  may  be  derived 
from  the  wicked  king.  The  prophets  show  us  that  it 
was  by  no  vicarious  condemnation  that  priests  and 
people  shared   the    ruin  of  their  sovereign.     In   their 


214  Tii^   BOOKS   OF   CHRONICLES 

pages  the  subject  is  treated  from  many  points  of  view : 
Israel  and  Judah,  Edom  and  Tyre,  Egypt,  Assyria,  and 
Babylon,  serve  in  their  turn  as  models  for  the  picture 
of  the  wicked  nation.  In  the  Apocalypse  the  ancient 
picture  is  adapted  to  new  circumstances,  and  the  City 
of  the  Seven  Hills  takes  the  place  of  Babylon.  Modern 
prophets  have  further  adapted  the  treatment  of  the 
subject  to  their  own  times,  and  for  the  most  part 
to  their  own  people.  With  stern  and  uncompromising 
patriotism,  Carlyle  and  Ruskin  have  sought  righteous- 
ness for  England  even  at  the  expense  of  its  reputation  ; 
they  have  emphasised  its  sin  and  selfishness  in  order 
to  produce  repentance  and  reform.  For  other  teachers 
the  history  of  foreign  peoples  has  furnished  the  picture 
of  the  wicked  nation,  and  the  France  of  the  Revolution 
or  the  "  unspeakable "  Turk  has  been  held  up  as  an 
example  of  all  that  is  abominable  in  national  life. 

Any  detailed  treatment  of  this  theme  in  Scripture 
would  need  an  exposition,  not  merely  of  Chronicles, 
but  of  the  whole  Bible.  We  may,  however,  make  one 
general  application  of  the  chronicler's  principle  that  the 
wicked  nation  is  the  nation  that  forgets  God.  We 
do  not  now  measure  a  people's  religion  by  the  number 
and  magnificence  of  its  priests  and  churches,  or  by 
the  amount  of  money  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of 
public  worship.  The  most  fatal  symptoms  of  national 
depravity  are  the  absence  of  a  healthy  public  opinion, 
indifference  to  character  in  poHtics,  neglect  of  education 
as  a  means  of  developing  character,  and  the  stifling 
of  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  in  a  desperate  struggle  for 
existence.  When  God  is  thus  forgotten,  and  the 
gracious  influences  of  His  Spirit  are  no  longer  recog- 
nised in  public  and  private  life,  a  country  may  well 
be  degraded  into  the  ranks  of  the  wicked  nat-ons. 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED  KINGS  215 


The  perfectly  general  terms  in  which  the  doings  and 
experiences  of  Ahaz  are  described  facilitate  the  applica- 
tion of  their  warnings  to  the  ordinary  individual.  His 
royal  station  only  appears  in  the  form  and  scale  of  his 
wickedness,  which  in  its  essence  is  common  to  him  with 
the  humblest  sinner.  Every  young  man  enters,  like 
Ahaz,  upon  a  royal  inheritance ;  character  and  career 
are  as  all-important  to  a  peasant  or  a  shopgirl  as  they 
are  to  an  emperor  or  a  queen.  When  a  girl  of  seven- 
teen or  a  youth  of  twenty  succeeds  to  some  historic 
throne,  we  are  moved  to  think  of  the  heavy  burden  of 
responsibility  laid  upon  inexperienced  shoulders  and  of 
the  grave  issues  that  must  be  determined  during  the 
swiftly  passing  years  of  their  early  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. Alas,  this  heavy  burden  and  these  grave  issues 
are  but  the  common  lot.  The  young  sovereign  is  happy 
in  the  fierce  light  that  beats  upon  his  throne,  for  he  is 
not  allowed  to  forget  the  dignity  and  importance  of 
life.  History,  with  its  stories  of  good  and  wicked  kings, 
has  obviously  been  written  for  his  instruction  ;  if  the 
time  be  out  of  joint,  as  it  mostly  is,  he  has  been  born  to 
set  it  right.  It  is  all  true,  yet  it  is  equally  true  for 
every  one  of  his  subjects.  His  lot  is  only  the  common 
lot  set  upon  a  hill,  in  the  full  sunlight,  to  illustrate, 
interpret,  and  influence  lower  and  obscurer  lives. 
People  take  such  eager  interest  in  the  doings  of  royal 
families,  their  christenings,  weddings,  and  funerals, 
because  therein  the  common  experience  is,  as  it  were, 
glorified  into  adequate  dignity  and  importance. 

*'  Ahaz  was  twenty  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign, 
and  he  reigned  sixteen  years  in  Jerusalem  " ;  but  miost 
men  and  women  begin  to  reign  before  they  are  twenty. 
The  history  of  Judah  for  those  sixteen  years  was  really 
determined  long  before  Ahaz  was  invested  with  crown 


2i6    ■  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


and  sceptre.  Men  should  all  be  educated  to  reign,  to 
respect  themselves  and  appreciate  their  opportunities. 
We  do  in  some  measure  adopt  this  principle  with 
promising  lads.  Their  energies  are  stimulated  by  the 
prospect  of  making  a  fortune  or  a  name,  or  the  more 
soaring  imagination  dreams  of  a  seat  on  the  woolsack 
or  on  one  of  the  Front  Benches.  Gifted  girls  are  also 
encouraged,  as  becomes  their  gifts,  to  achieve  a  brilliant 
marriage  or  a  popular  novel.  .We  need  to  apply  the 
principle  more  consistently  and  to  recognise  the  royal 
dignity  of  the  average  life  and  of  those  whom  the 
superior  person  is  pleased  to  call  commonplace  people. 
It  may  then  be  possible  to  induce  the  ordinary  young 
man  to  take  a  serious  interest  in  his  own  future.  The 
stress  laid  on  the  sanctity  and  supreme  value  of  the 
individual  soul  has  always  been  a  vital  element  of 
evangelical  teaching  ;  like  most  other  evangelical  truths, 
it  is  capable  of  deeper  meaning  and  wider  application 
than  are  commonly  recognised  in  systematic  theology. 
We  have  kept  our  sovereign  waiting  too  long  on  the 
threshold  of  his  kingdom  ;  his  courtiers  and  his  people 
are  impatient  to  know  the  character  and  intentions  of 
their  new  master.  So  with  every  heir  who  succeeds  to 
his  royal  inheritance.  The  fortunes  of  millions  may 
depend  upon  the  will  of  some  young  Czar  or  Kaiser  ; 
the  happiness  of  a  hundred  tenants  or  of  a  thousand 
workmen  may  rest  on  the  disposition  of  the  youthful 
inheritor  of  a  wide  estate  or  a  huge  factory  ;  but  none 
the  less  in  the  poorest  cottage  mother  and  father  and 
friends  wait  with  trembling  anxiety  to  see  how  the  boy 
or  girl  will  "  turn  out "  when  they  take  their  destinies 
into  their  own  hands  and  begin  to  reign.  Already 
perhaps  some  tender  maiden  watches  in  hope  and  fear, 
in  mingled  pride  and  misgiving,   the  rapidly  unfolding 


2  Chron.  xxviii.]  THE    WICKED  KINGS  217 

character  of  the  youth  to  whom   she  has  promised  to 
commit  all  the  happiness  of  a  life-time. 

And  to  each  one  in  turn  there  comes  the  choice  of 
Hercules ;  according  to  the  chronicler's  phrase,  the 
young  king  may  either  "  do  right  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah, 
like  David  his  father,"  or  he  may  walk  "  in  the  ways  of 
the  kings  of  Israel,  and  make  molten  images  for  the 
Baals." 

The  "  right  doings  of  David  his  father"  may  point  to 
family  traditions,  which  set  a  high  standard  of  noble 
conduct  for  each  succeeding  generation.  The  teaching 
and  influence  of  the  pious  Jotham  are  represented  by 
the  example  of  godliness  set  in  many  a  Christian  home, 
by  the  wise  and  loving  counsel  of  parents  and  friends. 
And  Ahaz  has  many  modern  parallels,  sons  and 
daughters  upon  whom  every  good  influence  seems  spent 
in  vain.  They  are  led  astray  into  the  ways  of  the  kings 
of  Israel,  and  make  molten  images  for  the  Baals.  There 
were  several  dynasties  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  and  the 
Baals  were  many  and  various  ;  there  are  many  tempters 
who  deliberately  or  unconsciously  lay  snares  for  souls, 
and  they  serve  different  powers  of  evil.  Israel  was  for 
the  most  part  more  powerful,  v/ealthy,  and  cultured  than 
Judah.  When  Ahaz  came  to  the  throne  as  a  mere 
youth,  Pekah  was  apparently  in  the  prime  of  life  and 
the  zenith  of  power.  He  is  no  inapt  symbol  of  what 
the  modern  tempter  at  any  rate  desires  to  appear :  the 
showy,  pretentious  man  of  the  world,  who  parades  his 
knowledge  of  life,  and  impresses  the  inexperienced  youth 
with  his  shrewdness  and  success,  and  makes  his  victim 
eager  to  imitate  him,  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  the  kings  of 
Israel. 

Moreover,  the  prospect  of  making  molten  images  for 
the   Baals   is  an  insidious   temptation,     Ahaz   perhaps 


2i8  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

found  the  decorous  worship  of  the  one  God  dull  and 
monotonous.  Baals  meant  new  gods  and  new  rites, 
with  all  the  excitement  of  novelty  and  variety.  Jotham 
may  not  have  realised  that  this  youth  of  twenty  was  a 
man  :  the  heir-apparent  may  have  been  treated  as  a 
child  and  left  too  much  to  the  women  of  the  harem. 
Responsible  activity  might  have  saved  Ahaz.  The 
Church  needs  to  recognise  that  healthy,  vigorous  youth 
craves  interesting  occupation  and  even  excitement.  If 
a  father  wishes  to  send  his  son  to  the  devil,  he  cannot 
do  better  than  make  that  son's  life,  both  secular  and 
religious,  a  routine  of  monotonous  drudgery.  Then 
any  pinchbeck  king  of  Israel  will  seem  a  marvel  of 
wit  and  good  fellowship,  and  the  making  of  molten 
images  a  most  pleasing  diversion.  A  molten  image 
is  something  solid,  permanent,  and  conspicuous,  a  stand- 
ing advertisement  of  the  enterprise  and  artistic  taste 
of  the  maker;  he  engraves  his  name  on  the  pedestal, 
and  is  proud  of  the  honourable  distinction.  Man}^  of 
our  modern  molten  images  are  duly  set  forth  in  popular 
works,  for  instance  the  reputation  for  impure  life,  or 
hard  drinking,  or  reckless  gambling,  to  achieve  which 
some  men  have  spent  their  time,  and  money,  and  toil. 
Other  molten  images  are  dedicated  to  another  class  of 
Baals  :  Mammon  the  respectable  and  Belial  the  polite. 

The  next  step  in  the  history  of  Ahaz  is  also  typical 
of  many  a  rake's  progress.  The  king  of  Israel,  in 
whose  ways  he  has  walked,  turns  upon  him  and 
plunders  him ;  the  experienced  man  of  the  world 
gives  his  pupil  painful  proof  of  his  superiority,  and 
calls  in  his  confederates  to  share  the  spoil.  Now 
surely  the  victim's  eyes  will  be  opened  to  the  life  he 
is  leading  and  the  character  of  his  associates.  By  no 
means.     Ahaz  has  been  conquered  by  Syria,  and  there- 


2  Chron.  xx\4ii.]  THE    WICKED   KINGS  2^9 


fore  he  will  worship  the  gods  of  Syria,  and  he  will 
have  a  confederate  of  his  own  in  the  Assyrian  king. 
The  victim  tries  to  master  the  arts  by  which  he  has 
been  robbed  and  ill-treated ;  he  will  become  as  un- 
scrupulous as  his  masters  in  wickedness.  He  seeks 
the  profit  and  distinction  of  being  the  accomplice  of 
bold  and  daring  sinners,  men  as  pre-eminent  in  evil 
as  Tilgath-pilneser  in  Western  Asia ;  and  they,  like 
the  Assyrian  king,  take  his  money  and  accept  his 
flattery :  they  use  him  and  then  cast  him  off  more 
humiliated  and  desperate  than  ever.  He  sinks  into 
a  prey  of  meaner  scoundrels  :  the  Edomitcs  and  Philis- 
tines of  fast  life  ;  and  then,  in  his  extremity,  he  builds 
new  high  places  and  sacrifices  to  more  new  gods ;  he 
has  recourse  to  all  the  shifty  expedients  and  sordid 
superstitions  of  the  devotees  of  luck  and  chance. 

All  this  while  he  has  still  paid  some  external  homage 
to  religion  ;  he  has  observed  the  conventions  of  honour 
and  good  breeding.  There  have  been  services,  as  it 
were,  in  the  temple  of  Jehovah.  Now  he  begins  to 
feel  that  this  deference  has  not  met  with  an  adequate 
reward ;  he  has  been  no  better  treated  than  the 
flagrantly  disreputable  :  indeed,  these  men  have  often 
got  the  better  of  him.  "  It  is  vain  to  serve  God ;  what 
profit  is  there  in  keeping  His  charge  and  in  walking 
mournfully  before  the  Lord  of  hosts  ?  The  proud  are 
called  happy ;  they  that  work  wickedness  are  built  up  : 
they  tempt  God,  and  are  delivered."  His  moods  vary ; 
and,  with  reckless  inconsistency,  he  sometimes  derides 
religion  as  worthless  and  unmeaning,  and  sometimes 
seeks  to  make  God  responsible  for  his  sins  and  mis- 
fortunes. At  one  time  he  says  he  knows  all  about 
religion  and  has  seen  through  it ;  he  was  brought  up 
to  pious   ways,   and   his   mature  judgment  has  shown 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


him  that  piety  is  a  delusion  ;  he  will  no  longer  coun- 
tenance its  hypocrisy  and  cant  :  at  another  time  he 
complains  that  he  has  been  exposed  to  special  tempta- 
tions and  has  not  been  provided  with  special  safe- 
guards ;  the  road  that  leads  to  life  has  been  made  too 
steep  and  narrow,  and  he  has  been  allowed  without 
warning  and  remonstrance  to  tread  "  the  primrose  path 
that  leads  to  the  everlasting  bonfire  " ;  he  will  cast  off 
altogether  the  dull  formalities  and  irksome  restraints 
of  religion  ;  he  will  work  wickedness  with  a  proud  heart 
and  a  high  hand.  His  happiness  and  success  have 
been  hindered  by  pedantic  scruples ;  now  he  will  be 
built  up  and  delivered  from  his  troubles.  He  gets  rid 
of  the  few  surviving  relics  of  the  old  honourable  life. 
The  service  of  prayer  and  praise  ceases  ;  the  lamp  of 
truth  is  put  out ;  the  incense  of  holy  thought  no  longer 
perfumes  the  soul ;  and  the  temple  of  the  Spirit  is  left 
empty,  and  dark,  and  desolate. 

At  last,  in  what  should  be  the  prime  of  manhood,  the 
sinner,  broken-hearted,  worn  out  in  mind  and  body, 
sinks  into  a  dishonoured  grave. 

The  career  and  fate  of  Ahaz  may  have  other  parallels 
besides  this,  but  it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  the  chronicler's 
picture  of  the  wicked  king  is  no  mere  antiquarian  study 
of  a  vanished  past.  It  lends  itseljfwith  startUng  facility 
to  illustrate  the  fatal  downward  course  of  any  man 
who,  entering  on  the  royal  inheritance  of  human  life, 
allies  himself  with  the  powers  of  darkness  and  finally 
becomes  their  slave. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE    PRIESTS 

THE  Israelite  priesthood  must  be  held  to  include 
the  Levites.  Their  functions  and  status  differed 
from  those  of  the  house  of  Aaron  in  degree,  and  not  in 
kind.  They  formed  a  hereditary  caste  set  apart  for 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  and  as  such  they  shared 
the  revenues  of  the  Temple  with  the  sons  of  Aaron. 
The  priestly  character  of  the  Levites  is  more  than  once 
implied  in  Chronicles.  After  the  disruption,  we  are 
told  that  "  the  priests  and  the  Levites  that  were  in  all 
Israel  resorted  to  Rehoboam,"  because  **  Jeroboam  and 
his  sons  cast  them  off,  that  they  should  not  exercise 
the  priest's  office  unto  Jehovah."  On  an  emergency, 
as  at  Hezekiah's  great  feast  at  the  reopening  of  the 
I'emple,  the  Levites  might  even  discharge  priestly 
functions.  Moreover,  the  chronicler  seems  to  recognise 
the  priestly  character  of  the  whole,  tribe  of  Levi  by 
retaining  in  a  similar  connection  the  old  phrase  '*  the 
priests  the  Levites."  ^ 

The  relation  of  the  Levites  to  the  priests,  the  sons 
of  Aaron,  was  not  that  of  laymen  to  clergy,  but  of 
an    inferior    clerical  order   to    their    superiors.     When 

'  2  Chron.  xi.  13,  14,  xxix.  34,  xxx.  27,  all  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
In  xxx.  27  the  text  is  doubtful;  many  authorities  have  "the  priests 
and  the  Levites." 

221 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Charlotte  Bronte  has  occasion  to  devote  a  chapter  to 
curates,  she  heads  it  "  Levitical."  The  Levites,  again, 
Hke  deacons  in  the  Church  of  England,  were  forbidden 
to  perform  the  most  sacred  ritual  of  Divine  service. 
Technically  their  relation  to  the  sons  of  Aaron  might 
be  compared  to  that  of  deacons  to  priests  or  of  priests 
to  bishops.  From  the  point  of  view  of  numbers,^ 
revenues,  and  social  standing,  the  sons  of  Aaron  might 
be  compared  to  the  dignitaries  of  the  Church  :  arch- 
bishops, bishops,  archdeacons,  deans,  and  incumbents  of 
livings  with  large  incomes  and  little  work  ;  while  the 
Levites  would  correspond  to  the  more  moderately  paid 
and  fully  occupied  clergy.  Thus  the  nature  of  the 
distinction  between  the  priests  and  the  Levites  shows 
that  they  were  essentially  only  two  grades  of  the  same 
order  ;  and  this  corresponds  roughly  to  what  has  been 
generally  denoted  by  the  term  "  priesthood."  Priest- 
hood, however,  had  a  more  limited  meaning  in  Israel 
than  in  later  times.  In  some  branches  of  the  Christian 
Church,  the  priests  exercise  or  claim  to  exercise  func- 
tions which  in  Israel  belonged  to  the  prophets  or  the 
king. 

Before  considering  the  central  and  essential  idea  of 
the  priest  as  a  minister  of  public  worship,  we  will 
notice  some  of  his  minor  duties.  We  have  seen  that 
the  sanctity  of  civil  government  is  emphasised  by  the 
religious  supremacy  of  the  king ;  the  same  truth  is  also 
illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  priests  and  Levites 
were  sometimes  the  king's  officers  for  civil  affairs. 
Under  David,  certain  Levites  of  Hebron  are  spoken 
of  as  having  the  oversight  of  all  Israel,  both  east  and 

'  I.e.,  in  the  view  given  us  by  the  chronicler  of  the  period  of  the 
monarchy,  after  the  Return  the  priests  were  far  more  numerous  than 
the  Levites. 


THE  PRIESTS 


west  of  Jordan,  not  only  **  for  all  the  business  of 
Jehovah,"  but  also  "  for  the  service  of  the  king."  ^  The 
business  of  the  law-courts  was  recognised  by  Jehosha- 
phat  as  the  judgment  of  Jehovah,  and  accordingly 
amongst  the  judges  there  were  priests  and  Levites.^ 
Similarly  the  mediaeval  governments  often  found  their 
most  efficient  and  trustworthy  administrators  in  the 
bishops  and  clergy,  and  were  glad  to  reinforce  their 
secular  authority  by  the  sanction  of  the  Church  ;  and 
even  to-day  bishops  sit  in  Parliament :  incumbents 
preside  over  vestries,  and  sometimes  act  as  county 
magistrates.  But  the  interest  of  religion  in  civil  govern- 
ment is  most  manifest  in  the  moral  influence  exercised 
unofficially  by  earnest  and  public-spirited  ministers  of 
all  denominations. 

The  chronicler  refers  more  than  once  to  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  priests,  and  especially  of  the  Levites. 
The  English  version  probably  gives  his  real  meaning 
when  it  attributes  to  him  the  phrase  "  teaching  priest."  ^ 
Jehoshaphat's  educational  commission  was  largely  com- 
posed of  priests  and  Levites,  and  Levites  are  spoken  of 
as  scribes.  Jewish  education  was  largely  religious,  and 
naturally  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  priesthood,  just  as 
the  learning  of  Egypt  and  Babylon  was  chiefly  in  the 
hands  of  priests  and  magi.  The  Christian  ministry 
maintained  the  ancient  traditions  :  the  monasteries 
were  the  homes  of  mediaeval  learning,  and  till  recently 
England  and  Scotland  mainly  owed  their  schools  to 
the  Churches,  and  almost  all  schoolmasters  of  any 
position    were    in    holy    orders — priests    and    Levites. 

'   I  Chron.  xxvi.  30-32. 
^  2  Chron.  xix.  4-II. 

^  2  Chron.  xv.  3.     In  the  older  literature  the  phrase  would  bear  a 
more  special  and  technical  meaning. 


224  th£  books  of  chronicles 

Under  our  new  educational  system  the  free  choice  of 
the  people  places  many  ministers  of  religion  on  the 
school  boards. 

The  next  characteristic  of  the  priesthood  is  not.  so 
much  in  accordance  with  Christian  theory  and  practice. 
The  house  of  Aaron  and  the  tribe  of  Levi  were  a 
Church  militant  in  a  very  literal  sense.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  their  history  the  tribe  of  Levi  earned  the 
blessing  of  Jehovah  by  the  pious  zeal  with  which  they 
flew  to  arms  in  His  cause  and  executed  His  judgment 
upon  their  guilty  fellow-countrymen.^  Later  on,  when 
"  Israel  joined  himself  unto  Baal-peor,  and  the  anger  of 
Jehovah  was  kindled  against  Israel,"  ^  then  stood  up 
Phinehas,  "  the  ancestor  of  the  house  of  Zadok,"  and 
executed  judgment. 

"And  so  the  plague  was  stayed, 
And  that  was  counted  unto  him  for  righteousness 
Unto  all  generations  for  evermore."^ 

But  the  militant  character  of  the  priesthood  was  not 
confined  to  its  early  history.  Amongst  those  who 
"  came  armed  for  war  to  David  to  Hebron  to  turn  the 
kingdom  of  Saul  to  him,  according  to  the  word  of 
Jehovah,"  were  four  thousand  six  hundred  of  the 
children  of  Levi  and  three  thousand  seven  hundred  of 
the  house  of  Aaron,  "  and  Zadok,  a  young  man  mighty 
of  valour,  and  twenty-two  captains  of  his  father's 
house."  *  ''  The  third  captain  of  David's  army  for  the 
third  month  was  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada  the  priest."^ 
David's  Hebronite  overseers  were  all  ''  mighty  men 
of  valour."     When  Judah  went  out  to  war,  the  trumpets 

.  1  Exod.  xxxii.  26-35.  *  Psalm  cvi.  30,  31. 

'■'  Num.  XXV.  3.  *  I  Chron,  xii.  23-28. 

'   I    Chron.  xxvii.  5  ;   cf.,   however,  R.V.  marg. 


THE   PRIESTS  225 


of  the  priests  gave  the  signal  for  battle  ^ ;  when  the 
high-priest  Jehoiada  recovered  the  kingdom  for  Joash, 
the  Levites  compassed  the  king  round  about,  every 
man  with  his  weapons  in  his  hand  "^ ;  when  Nehemiah 
rebuilt  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  **  every  one  with  one  of 
his  hands  wrought  in  the  work,  and  with  the  other 
held  his  weapon,"^  and  amongst  the  rest  the  priests. 
Later  on,  when  Jehovah  delivered  Israel  from  the  hand 
of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  priestly  family  of  the 
Maccabees,  in  the  spirit  of  their  ancestor  Phinehas, 
fought  and  died  for  the  Law  and  the  Temple.  There 
were  priestly  soldiers  as  well  as  priestly  generals,  for 
we  read  how  "  at  that  time  certain  priests,  desirous  to 
show  their  valour,  were  slain  in  battle,  for  that  they 
went  out  to  fight  inadvisedly."  *  In  the  Jewish  war  the 
priest  Josephus  was  Jewish  commander  in  Galilee. 

Christianity  has  aroused  a  new  sentiment  with  regard 
to  war.  We  believe  that  the  servant  of  the  Lord  must 
not  strive  in  earthly  battles.  Arms  may  be  lawful  for 
the  Christian  citizen,  but  it  is  felt  to  be  unseemly  that 
the  ministers  who  are  the  ambassadors  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace  should  themselves  be  men  of  blood.  Even  in 
the  Middle  Ages  fighting  prelates  like  Odo,  Bishop  of 
Bayeux,  were  felt  to  be  exceptional  anomahes ;  and 
the  prince-bishops  and  electoral  archbishops  were  often 
ecclesiastics  only  in  name.  To-day  the  Catholic  Church 
in  France  resents  the  conscription  of  its  seminarists  as 
an  act  of  vindictive  persecution. 

And  yet  the  growth  of  Christian  sentiment  in  favour 

'  2  Chron.  xiii.  12. 

^  2  Chron.  xxiii.  7.     All  the  passages  referred  to  in  this  paragraph 
are  peculiar  to  Chronicles, 
^  Neh.  iv.  17. 
*  I  Mace.  V.  67. 

15 


226  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

of  peace  has  not  prevented  the  occasional  combination 
of  the  soldier  and  the  ecclesiastic.  If  Islam  has  had 
its  armies  of  dervishes,  Cyril's  monks  fought  for  ortho- 
doxy at  Alexandria  and  at  Constantinople  with  all  the 
ferocity  of  wild  beasts.  The  Crusaders,  the  Templars, 
the  Knights  of  St.  John,  were  in  varying  degrees 
partly  priests  and  partly  soldiers.  Cromwell's  Iron- 
sides, when  they  were  wielding  carnal  weapons  in  their 
own  defence  or  in  any  other  good  cause,  were  as  expert 
as  any  Levites  at  exhortations  and  psalms  and  prayers ; 
and  in  our  own  day  certain  generals  and  admirals  are 
fond  of  playing  the  amateur  ecclesiastic.  In  this,  as  in 
so  much  else,  while  we  deny  the  form  of  Judaism,  we 
retain  its  spirit.  Havelock  and  Gordon  were  no  un- 
worthy successors  of  the  Maccabees. 

The  characteristic  function,  however,  of  the  Jewish 
priesthood  was  their  ministry  in  public  worship,  in 
which  they  represented  the  people  before  Jehovah. 
In  this  connection  public  worship  does  not  necessarily 
imply  that  the  public  were  present,  or  that  the  worship 
in  question  was  the  united  act  of  a  great  assembly. 
Such  worshipping  assemblies  were  not  uncommon, 
especially  at  the  feasts ;  but  ordinary  public  worship 
was  worship  on  behalf  of  the  people,  not  by  the  people. 
The  priests  and  Levites  were  part  of  an  elaborate 
system  of  symbolic  ritual.  Worshippers  might  gather 
in  the  Temple  courts,  but  the  Temple  itself  was  not  a 
place  in  which  public  meetings  for  worship  were  held, 
and  the  people  were  not  admitted  into  it.  The  Temple 
was  Jehovah's  house,  and  His  presence  there  was  sym- 
bolised by  the  Ark.  In  this  system  of  ritual  the 
priests  and  Levites  represented  Israel ;  their  sacrifices 
and  ministrations  were  the  acceptable  offerings  of  the 
nation  to  God.     If  the  sacrifices  were  duly  offered  by 


THE  PRIESTS  227 


the  priests  "  according  to  all  that  was  written  in  the 
law  of  Jehovah,  and  if  the  priests  with  trumpets  and 
the  Levites  with  psalteries,  and  harps,  and  cymbals  duly- 
ministered  before  the  ark  of  Jehovah  to  celebrate,  and 
thank,  and  praise  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,"  then 
the  Divine  service  of  Israel  was  fully  performed.  The 
whole  people  could  not  be  regularly  present  at  a  single 
sanctuary,  nor  would  they  be  adequately  represented 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  and  casual  visitors 
from  the  rest  of  the  country.  Three  times  a  year 
the  nation  was  fully  and  naturally  represented  by  those 
who  came  up  to  the  feasts,  but  usually  the  priests  and 
Levites  stood  in  their  place. 

When  an  assembly  gathered  for  public  worship  at 
a  feast  or  any  ;  other  time,  the  priests  and  Levites 
expressed  the  devotion  of  the  people.  They  performed 
the  sacrificial  rites,  they  blew  the  trumpets  and  played 
upon  the  psalteries,  and  harps,  and  cymbals,  and  sang 
the  praises  of  Jehovah.  The  people  were  dismissed  by 
the  priestly  blessing.  When  an  individual  offered  a 
sacrifice  as  an  act  of  private  worship,  the  assistance  of 
the  priests  and  Levites  was  still  necessary.  At  the 
same  time  the  king  as  well  as  the  priesthood  might 
lead  the  people  in  praise  and  prayer,  and  the  Temple 
psalmody  was  not  confined  to  the  Levitical  choir. 
When  the  Ark  was  brought  away  from  Kirjath-jearim, 
**  David  and  all  Israel  played  before  God  with  all  their 
might,  even  with  songs,  and  with  harps,  and  with 
psalteries,  and  with  timbrels,  and  with  cymbals,  and 
with  trumpets " ;  and  when  at  last  the  Ark  had  been 
safely  housed  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  due  sacrifices  had 
all  been  offered,  David  dismissed  the  people  in  priestly 
fashion  by  blessing  them  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.^     At 


I  Chron.  xiii.  8;  xvi.  2. 


228  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

the  two  solemn  assemblies  which  celebrated  the  begin- 
ning and  the  close  of  the  great  enterprise  of  building  the 
Temple,  public  prayer  was  offered,  not  by  the  priests, 
but  by  David^  and  Solomon.^  Similarly  Jehoshaphat 
led  the  prayers  of  the  Jews  when  they  gathered  to 
seek  deliverance  from  the  invading  Moabites  and 
Ammonites.  Hezekiah  at  his  great  passover  both 
exhorted  the  people  and  interceded  for  them,  and 
Jehovah  accepted  his  intercession  ;  but  on  this  occasion, 
when  the  festival  was  over,  it  was  not  the  king,  but 
"  the  priests  the  Levites,"  ^  who  "  arose  and  blessed  the 
people  :  and  their  voice  was  heard,  and  their  prayer 
came  up  to  His  holy  habitation,  even  unto  heaven." 
In  the  descriptions  of  Hezekiah's  and  Josiah's  festivals, 
the  orchestra  and  choir,  of  course,  are  busy  with  the 
music  and  singing ;  otherwise  the  main  duty  of  the 
priests  and  Levites  is  to  sacrifice.  In  his  graphic 
account  of  Josiah's  passover,  the  chronicler  no  doubt 
reproduces  on  a  larger  scale  the  busy  scenes  in  which 
he  himself  had  often  taken  part.  The  king,  the  princes, 
and  the  chiefs  of  the  Levites  had  provided  between 
them  thirty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  lambs  and 
kids  and  three  thousand  eight  hundred  oxen  for  sacri- 
fices ;  and  the  resources  of  the  establishment  of  the 
Temple  were  taxed  to  the  utmost.  "  So  the  service 
was  prepared,  and  the  priests  stood  in  their  place,  and 
the  Levites  by  the  courses,  according  to  the  king's 
commandment.  And  they  killed  the  passover,  and  the 
priests  sprinkled  the  blood,  which  they  received  of  their 
hand,  and  the  Levites  flayed  the  sacrifices.  And  they 
removed  the  burnt  offerings,  that  they  might  give  them 

'    I  Chron.  xxix.  IO-19. 

^  2  Chron.  vi. 

^  2  Chron.  xx.  4-13;  xxx.  6-9,  18-21,  27. 


THE  PRIESTS  229 


according  to  the  divisions  of  the  fathers'  houses  of  the 
children  of  the  people,  to  offer  unto  Jehovah,  as  it  is 
\vritten  in  the  law  of  Moses ;  and  so  they  did  with  the 
oxen.  And  they  roasted  the  passover  according  to  the 
ordinance  ;  and  they  boiled  the  holy  offerings  in  pots, 
and  caldrons,  and  pans,  and  carried  them  quickly  to  all 
the  children  of  the  people.  And  afterward  they  pre- 
pared for  themselves  and  for  the  priests,  because  the 
priests  the  sons  of  Aaron  were  busied  in  offering  the 
burnt  offerings  and  the  fat  until  night ;  therefore  the 
Levites  prepared  for  themselves  and  for  the  priests  the 
sons  of  Aaron.  And  the  singers  were  in  their  place, 
and  the  porters  were  at  their  several  gates  ;  they  needed 
not  to  depart  from  their  service,  for  their  brethren  the 
Levites  prepared  for  them.  So  all  the  service  of  Jehovah 
was  prepared  the  same  day,  to  keep  the  passover,  and 
to  offer  burnt  offerings  upon  the  altar  of  Jehovah."  ^ 
Thus  even  in  the  accounts  of  great  public  gatherings 
for  worship  the  main  duty  of  the  priests  and  Levites  is 
to  perform  the  sacrifices.  The  music  and  singing 
naturally  fall  into  their  hands,  because  the  necessary 
training  is  only  possible  to  a  professional  choir.  Other- 
wise the  now  symbolic  portions  of  the  service,  prayer, 
exhortation,  and  blessing,  were  not  exclusively  reserved 
to  ecclesiastics. 

The  priesthood,  like  the  Ark,  the  Temple,  and  the 
ritual,  belonged  essentially  to  the  system  of  religious 
symbolism.  This  was  their  peculiar  domain,  into  which 
no  outsider  might  intrude.  Only  the  Levites  could 
touch  the  Ark.  When  the  unhappy  Uzzah  "  put  forth 
his  hand  to  the  Ark,"  **  the  anger  of  Jehovah  was 
kindled  against  him ;  and  he  smote  Uzzah  so  that  he 

'  Z  Chron.  kxjcv, 


THE   BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


died  there  before  God."  ^  The  king  might  offer  up  pubHc 
prayer;  but  when  Uzziah  ventured  to  go  into  the  Temple 
to  burn  incense  upon  the  altar  of  incense,  leprosy  broke 
forth  in  his  forehead,  and  the  priests  thrust  him  out 
quickly  from  the  Temple.^ 

Thus  the  symbolic  and  representative  character  of 
the  priesthood  and  ritual  gave  the  sacrifices  and  other 
ceremonies  a  value  in  themselves,  apart  alike  from  the 
presence  of  worshippers  and  the  feelings  or  "  intention  " 
of  the  officiating  minister.  They  were  the  provision 
made  by  Israel  for  the  expression  of  its  prayer,  its 
penitence  and  thanksgiving.  When  sin  had  estranged 
Jehovah  from  His  people,  the  sons  of  Aaron  made 
atonement  for  Israel ;  they  performed  the  Divinely 
appointed  ritual  by  which  the  nation  made  submission 
to  its  offended  King  and  cast  itself  upon  His  mercy. 
The  Jewish  sacrifices  had  features  which  have  survived 
in  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  the  multiplication  of 
sacrifices  arose  from  motives  similar  to  those  that  lead 
to  the  offering  up  of  many  masses. 

One  would  expect,  as  has  happened  in  the  Christian 
Church,  that  the  ministrants  of  the  symbolic  ritual 
would  annex  the  other  acts  of  public  worship,  not 
only  praise,  but  also  prayer  and  exhortation.  Con- 
siderations of  convenience  would  suggest  such  an 
amalgamation  of  functions ;  and  among  the  priests, 
while  the  more  ambitious  would  see  in  preaching  a 
means  of  extending  their  authority,  the  more  earnest 
would  be  anxious  to  use  their  unique  position  to  promote 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  people.  Chronicles,  however, 
affords  few  traces  of  any  such  tendency ;  and  the  great 
scene  in  the  book  of  Nehemiah  in  which  Ezra  and  the 

'   I  Chron,  xiii.  lO.  ^  2  Chron.  xxvi.  16-23. 


THE  PRIESTS 


Levites  expound  'the  Law  had  no  connection  with  the 
Temple  and  its  ritual.  The  development  of  the  Temple 
service  was  checked  by  its  exclusive  privileges  ;  it  was 
simply  impossible  that  the  single  sanctuary  should 
continue  to  provide  for  all  the  religious  wants  of  the 
Jews,  and  thus  supplementary  and  inferior  places 
of  worship  grew  up  to  appropriate  the  non-ritual  ele- 
ments of  service.  Probably  even  in  the  chronicler's 
time  the  division  of  religious  services  between  the 
Temple  and  the  synagogue  had  already  begun,  with 
the  result  that  the  representative  and  symbolic  character 
of  the  priesthood  is  almost  exclusively  emphasised. 

The  representative  character  of  the  priesthood  has 
another  aspect.  Strictly  the  priest  represented  the 
nation  before  Jehovah  ;  but  in  doing  so  it  was  inevitable 
that  he  should  also  in  some  measure  represent  Jehovah 
to  the  nation.  He  could  not  be  the  channel  of  worship 
offered  to  God  without  being  also  the  channel  of  Divine 
grace  to  man.  From  the  priest  the  worshipper  learnt 
the  will  of  God  as  to  correct  ritual,  and  received  the 
assurance  that  the  atoning  sacrifice  was  duly  accepted. 
The  high-priest  entered  within  the  veil  to  make  atone- 
ment for  Israel ;  he  came  forth  as  the  bearer  of  Divine 
forgiveness  and  renewed  grace,  and  as  he  blessed  the 
people  he  spoke  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.  We  have 
been  able  to  discern  the  presence  of  these  ideas  in 
Chronicles,  but  they  are  not  very  conspicuous.  The 
chronicler  was  not  a  layman  ;  he  was  too  familiar  with 
priests  to  feel  any  profound  reverence  for  them.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  was  not  himself  a  priest,  but  was 
specially  preoccupied  with  the  musicians,  the  Levites, 
and  the  doorkeepers ;  so  that  probabl}^  he  does  not 
give  us  an  adequate  idea  of  the  relative  dignity  of  the 
priests  and  the  honour  in  Avhich  they  were  held  by  the 


232  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


people.     Organists  and  choirmasters,  it  is  said,  seldom 
•take  an  exalted  view  of  their  minister's  office. 

The  chronicler  deals  more  fully  with  a  matter  in 
which  priests  and  Levites  v/ere  alike  interested  :  the 
revenues  of  the  Temple.  He  was  doubtless  aware  of 
the  bountiful  provision  made  by  the  Law  for  his  order, 
and  loved  to  hold  up  this  hberality  of  kings,  princes, 
and  people  in  ancient  da^'-s  for  his  contemporaries  to 
admire  and  imitate.  He  records  again  and  again  the 
tens  of  thousands  of  sheep  and  oxen  provided  for  sacri- 
fice, not  altogether  unmindful  of  the  rich  dues  that  must 
have  accrued  to  the  priests  out  of  all  this  abundance  ; 
he  tells  us  how  Hezekiah  first  set  the  good  example  of 
appointing  "  a  portion  of  his  substance  for  the  burnt 
offerings,"  and  then  "  commanded  the  people  that  dwelt 
at  Jerusalem  to  give  the  portion  of  the  priests  and  the 
Levites  that  they  might  give  themselves  to  the  law  of  the 
Lord.  And  as  soon  as  the  commandment  came  abroad 
the  children  of  Israel  gave  in  abundance  the  first-fruits 
of  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  and  honey,  and  of  all  the  increase 
of  the  field ;  and  the  tithe  of  all  things  brought  they  in 
abundantly."  ^  These  were  the  days  of  old,  the  ancient 
years  when  the  offering  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  was 
pleasant  to  Jehovah ;  when  the  people  neither  dared 
nor  desired  to  offer  on  God's  altar  a  scanty  tale  of 
blind,  lame,  and  sick  victims ;  when  the  tithes  were  not 
kept  back,  and  there  was  meat  in  the  house  of  God  ^ ; 
when,  as  Hezekiah's  high-priest  testified,  they  could 
eat  and  have  enough  and  yet  leave  plenty.^  The 
manner  in  which  the  chronicler  tells  the  tale  of  ancient 
abundance  suggests  that  his  days  were  like  the  days 


'  2  Chron.  xxxi.  3-5.  -  Mai.  i.  8  ;  iii.  4,  10, 

'  2  Chron,  xxxi,  10. 


THE  PRIESTS  233 


of  Malachi.  He  was  no  pampered  ecclesiastic,  revelling 
in  present  wealth  and  luxury,  but  a  man  who  suffered 
hard  tim.es,  and  looked  back  wistfully  to  the  happier 
experiences  of  his  predecessors. 

Let  us  now  restore  the  complete  picture  of  the 
chronicler's  priest  from  his  scattered  references  to  the 
subject.  The  priest  represents  the  nation  before 
Jehovah,  and  in  a  less  degree  represents  Jehovah  to 
the  nation ;  he  leads  their  public  worship,  especially  at 
the  great  festal  gatherings ;  he  teaches  the  people  the 
Law.  The  high  character,  culture,  and  ability  of  the 
priests  and  Levites  occasions  their  employment  as 
judges  and  in  other  responsible  civil  offices.  If  occasion 
required,  they  could  show  themselves  mighty  men  of 
valour  in  their  country's  wars.  Under  pious  kings, 
they  enjoyed  ample  revenues  which  gave  them  in- 
dependence, added  to  their  importance  in  the  eyes  of 
the  people,  and  left  them  at  leisure  to  devote  themselves 
exclusively  to  their  sacred  duties. 

In  considering  the  significance  of  this  picture,  we 
can  pass  over  without  special  notice  the  exercise  by 
priests  and  Levites  of  the  functions  of  leadership  in 
public  worship,  teaching,  and  civil  government.  They 
are  not  essential  to  the  priesthood,  but  are  entirely 
consistent  with  the  tenure  of  the  priestly  office,  and 
naturally  become  associated  with  it.  Warlike  prowess 
was  certainly  no  part  of  the  priesthood ;  but,  whatever 
may  be  true  of  Christian  ministers,  it  is  difficult  to 
charge  the  priests  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  with  incon- 
sistency because,  like  Jehovah  Himself,  they  were 
men  of  war  ^  and  went  forth  to  battle  in  the  armies  of 
Israel.     When  a  nation  was  continually  fighting  for  its 


'  Exod.  XV,  3. 


234  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

very   existence,   it    was    impossible   for    one    tribe  out 
of  the  twelve  to  be  non-combatant. 

With  regard  to  the  representative  character  of  the 
priests,  it  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  enter  upon  the 
burning  questions  of  sacerdotalism  ;  but  we  may  briefly 
point  out  the  permanent  truth  underlying  the  ancient 
idea  of  the  priesthood.  The  ideal  spiritual  life  in  every 
Church  is  one  of  direct  fellowship  between  God  and 
the  believer. 

"  Speak  to  Him,  thou,  for  He  hears,  and  spirit  with  spirit  can  meet ; 
Closer  is  He  than  breathing,  and  nearer  than  hands  and  feet." 

And  yet  a  man  may  be  truly  religious  and  not  realise 
this  ideal,  or  only  realise  it  very  imperfectly.  The  gift 
of  an  intense  and  real  spiritual  life  may  belong  to  the 
humblest  and  poorest,  to  men  of  little  intellect  and  less 
learning ;  but,  none  the  less,  it  is  not  within  the 
immediate  reach  of  every  believer,  or  indeed  of  any 
believer  at  every  time.  The  descendants  of  Mr.  Little- 
faith  and  Mr.  Ready-to-halt  are  amongst  us  still,  and 
there  is  no  immediate  prospect  of  their  race  becoming 
extinct.  Times  come  when  we  are  all  glad  to  put 
ourselves  under  the  safe  conduct  of  Mr.  Great-heart. 
There  are  many  whose  prayers  seem  to  themselves  too 
feebly  winged  to  rise  to  the  throne  of  grace  ;  they  are 
encouraged  and  helped  when  their  petitions  are  borne 
upwards  on  the  strong  pinions  of  another's  faith. 
George  Eliot  has  pictured  the  Florentines  as  awed 
spectators  of  Savonarola's  audiences  with  Heaven.  To 
a  congregation  sometimes  the  minister's  prayers  are  a 
sacred  and  solemn  spectacle ;  his  spiritual  feeling  is 
beyond  them ;  he  intercedes  for  blessings  they  neither 
desire  nor  understand ;  they  miss  the  heavenly  vision 
which  stirs  his  soul.     He  is  not  their  spokesman,  but 


THE  PRIESTS  235 

their  priest ;  he  has  entered  the  holy  place,  bearing 
with  him  the  sins  that  crave  forgiveness,  the  fears  that 
beg  for  deliverance,  the  hopes  that  yearn  to  be  fulfilled. 
Though  the  people  may  remain  in  the  outer  court,  yet 
they  are  fully  assured  that  he  has  passed  into  the 
very  presence  of  God.  They  listen  to  him  as  to  one 
who  has  had  actual  speech  with  the  King  and  received 
the  assurance  of  His  goodwill  towards  them.  When 
the  vanguard  of  the  Ten  Thousand  first  sighted  the 
Euxine,  the  cry  of  "  Thalassa  1  Thalassa  1 "  ("  The  sea  ! 
the  sea ! ")  rolled  backward  along  the  line  of  march ; 
the  rearguard  saw  the  long-hoped-for  sight  with  the 
eyes  of  the  pioneers.  Much  unnecessary  self-reproach 
would  be  avoided  if  we  accepted  this  as  one  of  God's 
methods  of  spiritual  education,  and  understood  that 
we  all  have  in  a  measure  to  experience  this  discipline 
in  humility.  The  priesthood  of  the  believer  is  not 
merely  his  right  to  enter  for  himself  into  the  immediate 
presence  of  God :  it  becomes  his  duty  and  privilege 
to  represent  others.  But  times  will  also  come  when  he 
himself  will  need  the  support  of  a  priestly  intercession 
in  the  Divine  presence-chamber,  when  he  will  seek  out 
some  one  of  quick  sympathy  and  strong  faith  and  say, 
"  Brother,  pray  for  me."  Apart  from  any  ecclesiastical 
theory  of  the  priesthood,  we  all  recognise  that  there 
are  God-ordained  priests,  men  and  women,  who  can 
inspire  dull  souls  with  a  sense  of  the  Divine  presence 
and  bring  to  the  sinful  and  the  struggling  the  assurance 
of  Divine  forgiveness  and  help.  If  one  in  ten  among 
the  official  priests  of  the  historic  Churches  had  possessed 
these  supreme  gifts,  the  world  would  have  accepted 
the  most  extravagant  sacerdotalism  without  a  murmur. 
As  it  is,  every  minister,  every  one  who  leads  the 
worship  of  a  congregation,  assumes  for  the  time  being 


236  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

functions  and  should  possess  the  corresponding  quahfi- 
cations.  In  his  prayers  he  speaks  for  the  people ;  he 
represents  them  before  God ;  on  their  behalf  he  enters 
into  the  Divine  presence ;  they  only  enter  with  him,  if, 
as  their  spokesman  and  representative,  he  has  grasped 
their  feelings  and  raised  them  to  the  level  of  Divine 
fellowship.  He  may  be  an  untutored  labourer  in  his 
working  garments ;  but  if  he  can  do  this,  this  spiritual 
gift  makes  him  a  priest  of  God.  But  this  Christian 
priesthood  is  not  confined  to  public  service ;  as  the 
priest  offered  sacrifice  for  the  individual  Jew,  so  the 
man  of  spiritual  sympathies  helps  the  individual  to 
draw  near  his  Maker.  "To  pray  with  people"  is  a 
well-known  ministry  of  Christian  service,  and  it  involves 
this  priestly  function  of  presenting  another's  prayers  to 
God.  This  priesthood  for  individuals  is  exercised  by 
many  a  Christian  who  has  no  gifts  of  pubhc  utterance. 

The  ancient  priest  held  a  representative  position  in 
a  symbolic  ritual,  a  position  partly  independent  of  his 
character  and  spiritual  powers.  Where  symbolic  ritual 
is  best  suited  for  popular  needs,  there  may  be  room  for 
a  similar  priesthood  to-day.  Otherwise  the  Christian 
priesthood  is  required  to  represent  the  people  not  in 
symbol,  but  in  reality,  to  carry  not  the  blood  of  dead 
victims  into  a  material  Holy  of  holies,  but  living  souls 
into  the  heavenly  temple. 

There  remains  one  feature  of  the  Jewish  priestly 
system  upon  which  the  chronicler  lays  great  stress  : 
the  endowments  and  priestly  dues.  In  the  case  of  the 
high-priest  and  the  Levites,  whose  whole  time  was 
devoted  to  sacred  duties,  it  was  obviously  necessary 
that  those  who  served  the  altar  should  live  by  the 
altar.  The  same  principle  would  apply,  but  with  much 
less  force,  to  the  twenty-four  courses  of  priests,  each 


THE  PRIESTS  23^ 


of  which  in  its  turn  officiated  at  the  Temple.  But, 
apart  from  the  needs  of  the  priesthood,  their  repre- 
sentative character  demanded  that  they  should  be  able 
to  maintain  a  certain  state.  They  were  the  ambas- 
sadors of  Israel  to  Jehovah.  Nations  have  alv/ays 
been  anxious  that  the  equipment  and  suite  of  their 
representative  at  a  foreign  court  should  be  worthy  of 
their  power  and  wealth  ;  moreover,  the  splendour  of  an 
embassy  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  rank  of  the 
sovereign  to  whom  it  is  accredited.  In  former  times, 
v\^hen  the  social  symbol's  were  held  of  more  account,  a 
first-rate  power  would  have  felt  itself  insulted  if  asked 
to  receive  an  envoy  of  inferior  rank,  attended  by  only 
a  meagre  train.  Israel,  by  her  lavish  endowment  of 
the  priesthood,  consulted  her  own  dignit}'  and  expressed 
her  sense  of  the  homage  due  to  Jehovah.  The  Jews 
could  not  express  their  devotion  in  the  same  way  as 
other  nations.  They  had  to  be  content  with  a  single 
sanctuary,  and  might  not  build  a  multitude  of  magnifi- 
cent temples  or  adorn  their  cities  with  splendid,  costly 
statues  in  honour  of  God.  There  were  hmits  to  their 
expenditure  upon  the  sacrifices  and  buildings  of  the 
Temple  ;  but  the  priesthood  offered  a  large  opportunity 
for  pious  generosity.  The  chronicler  felt  that  loyal 
enthusiasm  to  Jehovah  would  always  use  this  oppor- 
tunity, and  that  the  priests  might  consent  to  accept 
the  distinction  of  wealth  and  splendour  for  the  honour 
alike  of  Israel  and  Jehovah.  Their  dignity  was  not 
personal  to  themselves,  but  rather  the  livery  of  a  self- 
effacing  servitude.  For  the  honour  of  the  Church, 
Thomas  a  Becket  kept  up  a  great  establishment,  ap- 
peared in  his  robes  of  office,  and  entertained  a  crowd 
of  guests  with  luxurious  fare  ;  while  he  himself  wore 
a  hair  shirt   next  his  skin   and  fasted  like  an   ascetic 


238  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

monk.  When  the  Jews  stinted  the  ritual  or  the 
ministrants  of  Jehovah,  they  were  doing  what  they 
could  to  put  Him  to  open  shame  before  the  nations. 
Julian's  experience  in  the  grove  of  Daphne  at  Antioch 
was  a  striking  illustration  of  the  collapse  of  paganism  : 
the  imperial  champion  of  the  ancient  gods  must  have 
felt  his  heart  sink  within  him  when  he  was  welcomed 
to  that  once  splendid  sanctuary  by  one  shabby  priest 
dragging  a  solitary  and  reluctant  goose  to  the  deserted 
altar.  Similarly  Malachi  saw  that  Israel's  devotion  to 
Jehovah  was  in  danger  of  dying  out  when  men  chose 
the  refuse  of  their  flocks  and  herds  and  offered  them 
grudgingly  at  the  shrine. 

The  application  of  these  principles  leads  directly  to 
the  question  of  a  paid  ministry  ;  but  the  connection  is 
not  so  close  as  it  appears  at  first  sight,  nor  are  we 
yet  in  possession  of  all  the  data  which  the  chronicler 
furnishes  for  its  discussion.  Priestly  duties  form  an 
essential,  but  not  predominant,  part  of  the  work  of  most 
Christian  ministers.  Still  the  loyal  believer  must 
always  be  anxious  that  the  buildings,  the  services,  and 
the  men  which,  for  himself  and  for  the  world,  represent 
his  devotion  to  Christ,  should  be  worthy  of  their  high 
calling.  But  his  ideas  of  the  symbolism  suitable  for 
spiritual  realities  are  not  altogether  those  of  the 
chronicler :  he  is  less  concerned  with  number,  size, 
and  weight,  with  tens  of  thousands  of  sheep  and  oxen, 
vast  quantities  of  stone  and  timber,  brass  and  iron, 
and  innumerable  talents  of  gold  and  silver.  Moreover, 
in  this  special  connection  the  secondary  priestly  func- 
tion of  representing  God  to  man  has  been  expressly 
transferred  by  Christ  to  the  least  of  His  brethren. 
Those  who  wish  to  honour  God  with  their  substance 
in  the  person  of  His  earthly  representatives  are  enjoined 


THE  PRIESTS  239 


to  seek  for  them  in  hospitals,  and  workhouses,  and 
prisons,  to  find  these  representatives  in  the  hungry, 
the  thirsty,  the  friendless,  the  naked,  the  captives.  No 
doubt  Christ  is  dishonoured  when  those  who  dwell  in 
"houses  of  cedar"  are  content  to  worship  Him  in  a 
mean,  dirty  church,  with  a  half-starved  minister ;  but 
the  most  disgraceful  proof  of  the  Church's  disloyalty 
to  Christ  is  to  be  seen  in  the  squalor  and  misery  of 
men,  and  women,  and  children  whose  bodies  were 
ordained  of  God  to  be  the  temples  of  His  Holy  Spirit. 
This  is  only  one  among  many  illustrations  of  the 
truth  that  in  Christ  the  symbolism  of  religion  took  a 
new  departure.  His  Church  enjoys  the  spiritual  realities 
prefigured  by  the  Jewish  temple  and  its  ministry. 
Even  where  Christian  symbols  are  parallel  to  those 
of  Judaism,  they  are  less  conventional  and  richer  in 
their  direct  spiritual  suggestiveness. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    PROPHETS 

ONE  remarkable  feature  of  Chronicles  as  compared 
with  the  book  of  Kings  is  the  greater  interest 
shown  by  the  former  in  the  prophets  of  Judah.  The 
chronicler,  by  confining  his  attention  to  the  southern 
kingdom,  was  compelled  to  omit  almost  all  reference 
to  Elijah  and  Elisha,  and  thus  exclude  from  his  work' 
some  of  the  most  thrilling  chapters  in  the  history  of 
the  prophets  of  Israel.  Nevertheless  the  prophets  as 
a  whole  play  almost  as  important  a  part  in  Chronicles 
as  in  the  book  of  Kings.  Compensation  is  made  for 
the  omission  of  the  two  great  northern  prophets  b}^ 
inserting  accounts  of  several  prophets  whose  messages 
were  addressed  to  the  kings  of  Judah. 

The  chronicler's  interest  in  the  prophets  was  very 
different  from  the  interest  he  took  in  the  priests  and 
Levites.  The  latter  belonged  to  the  institutions  of  his 
own  time,  and  formed  his  own  immediate  circle.  In 
dealing  with  their  past,  he  was  reconstructing  the 
history  of  his  own  order  ;  he  was  able  to  illustrate 
and  supplement  from  observation  and  experience  the 
information  afforded  by  his  sources. 

But  when  the  chronicler  wrote,  prophets  had  ceased 
to  be  a  living  institution  in  Judah.  The  Hght  that  had 
shone  so  brightly  in  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  burned  feebly 
in  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi,  and  then  went  out, 

240 


THE  PROPHETS  241 


Not  long  after  the  chronicler's  time  the  failure  of 
prophecy  is  expressly  recognised.  The  people  whose 
synagogues  have  been  burnt  up  complain, — 

"  We  see  not  our  signs  ; 
There  is  no  more  any  prophet."  • 

When  Judas  Maccabaeus  appointed  certain  priests  to 
cleanse  the  Temple  after  its  pollution  by  the  Syrians, 
they  pulled  down  the  altar  of  burnt  offerings  because 
the  heathen  had  defiled  it,  and  laid  up  the  stones  in 
the  mountain  of  the  Temple  in  a  convenient  place,  until 
there  should  come  a  prophet  to  show  what  should  be 
done  with  them.^  This  failure  of  prophecy  was  not 
merely  brief  and  transient.  It  marked  the  disappearance 
of  the  ancient  order  of  prophets.  A  parallel  case  shows 
how  the  Jews  had  become  aware  that  the  high-priest 
no  longer  possessed  the  special  gifts  connected  with  the 
Urim  and  Thummim.  When  certain  priests  could  not 
find  their  genealogies,  they  were  forbidden  **  to  eat 
of  the  most  holy  things  till  there  stood  up  a  priest 
with  Urim  and  with  Thummim."  ^  We  have  no  record 
of  any  subsequent  appearance  of  "  a  priest  with  Urim 
and  with  Thummim  "  or  of  any  prophet  of  the  old 
order. 

Thus  the  chronicler  had  never  seen  a  prophet;  his 
conception  of  the  personality  and  office  of  the  prophet 
was  entirely  based  upon  ancient  Hterature,  and  he  took 
no  professional  interest  in  the  order.  At  the  same  time 
he  had  no  prejudice  against  them ;  they  had  no  Uving 
successors   to  compete   for   influence  and  endowments 

'  Psalm    Ixxiv.    8,    9.      This    psalm    is    commonly   regarded    as 
Maccabaean,  but  may  be  as  early  as  the  chronicler  or  even  earlier. 
^  I  Mace.  iv.  46. 
^  Ezra  ii.  63. 

16 


242  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

with  the  priests  and  Levites.  Possibly  the  Levites,  as 
the  chief  reUgious  teachers  of  the  people,  claimed  some 
sort  of  apostolic  succession  from  the  prophets ;  but 
there  are  very  slight  grounds  for  any  such  theory. 
The  chronicler's  information  on  the  whole  subject  was 
that  of  a  scholar  with  a  taste  for  antiquarian  research. 

Let  us  briefly  examine  the  part  played  by  the 
prophets  in  the  history  of  Judah  as  given  by  Chronicles. 
We  have  first,  as  in  the  book  of  Kings,  the  references 
to  Nathan  and  Gad :  they  make  known  to  David  the 
will  of  Jehovah  as  regards  the  building  of  the  Temple 
and  the  punishment  of  David's  pride  in  taking  the 
census  of  Israel.  David  unhesitatingly  accepts  their 
messages  as  the  word  of  Jehovah.  It  is  important  to 
notice  that  when  Nathan  is  consulted  about  building 
the  Temple  he  first  answers,  apparently  giving  a  mere 
private  opinion,  "  Do  all  that  is  in  thine  heart,  for  God 
is  with  thee  " ;  but  when  '*  the  word  of  God  comes  " 
to  him,  he  retracts  his  former  judgment  and  forbids 
David  to  build  the  Temple.  Here  again  the  plan  of 
the  chronicler's  work  leads  to  an  important  omission  : 
his  silence  as  to  the  murder  of  Uriah  prevents  him 
from  giving  the  beautiful  and  instructive  account  of 
the  way  in  which  Nathan  rebuked  the  guilty  king. 
Later  narratives  exhibit  other  prophets  in  the  act  of 
rebuking  most  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  but  none  of  these 
incidents  are  equally  striking  and  pathetic.  At  the 
end  of  the  histories  of  David  and  of  most  of  the  later 
kings  we  find  notes  which  apparently  indicate  that,  in 
the  chronicler's  time,  the  prophets  were  credited  with 
having  written  the  annals  of  the  kings  with  whom  they 
were  contemporary.  In  connection  with  Hezekiah's 
reformation  we  are  incidentally  told  that  Nathan  and 
Gad  were  associated  with   David  in   making  arrange- 


THE  PROPHETS  243 


merits  for  the  music  of  the  Temple  :  "  He  set  the 
Levites  in  the  house  of  Jehovah,  with  cymbals,  with 
psalteries,  and  v/ith  harps,  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  David  and  of  Gad  the  king's  seer  and  Nathan 
the  prophet,  for  the  commandment  was  of  Jehovah  by 
His  prophets."^ 

In  the  account  of  Solomon's  reign,  the  chronicler 
omits  the  interview  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite  with 
Jeroboam,  but  refers  to  it  in  the  history  of  Rehoboam. 
From  this  point,  in  accordance  with  his  general  plan,  he 
omits  almost  all  missions  of  prophets  to  the  northern 
kings. 

In  Rehoboam's  reign,  we  have  recorded,  as  in  the 
book  of  Kings,  a  message  from  Jehovah  by  Shemaiah 
forbidding  the  king  and  his  two  tribes  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin  to  attempt  to  compel  the  northern  tribes  to 
return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  house  of  David. 
Later  on,  when  Shishak  invaded  Judah,  Shemaiah  was 
commissioned  to  deliver  to  the  king  and  princes  the 
message,  "  Thus  saith  Jehovah  :  Ye  have  forsaken  Me ; 
therefore  have  I  also  left  you  in  the  hand  of  Shishak."  ^ 
But  when  they  repented  and  humbled  themselves 
before  Jehovah,  Shemaiah  announced  to  them  the 
mitigation  of  their  punishment. 

Asa's  reformation  was  due  to  the  inspired  exhorta- 
tions of  a  prophet  called  both  Oded  and  Azariah  the  son 
of  Oded.  Later  on  Hanani  the  seer  rebuked  the  king 
for  his  alliance  with  Benhadad,  king  of  Syria.  "  Then 
Asa  was  wroth  with  the  seer,  and  put  him  in  the 
prison-house ;  for  he  was  in  a  rage  with  him  because 
of  this  thing."  ^ 

'  2  Chron.  xxix.  25,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
^  2  Chron.  xii.  5-8,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
^  2  Chron.  xv.-xvi.  lo,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


244  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Jehoshaphat's  alliance  with  Ahab  and  his  consequent 
visit  to  Samaria  enabled  the  chronicler  to  introduce 
from  the  book  of  Kings  the  striking  narrative  of 
Micaiah  the  son  of  Imlah  ;  but  this  alliance  with  Israel 
earned  for  the  king  the  rebukes  of  Jehu  the  son  of 
Hanani  the  seer  and  Eliezar  the  son  of  Dodavahu  of 
Mareshah.  However,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Moabite 
and  Ammonite  invasion  Jehoshaphat  and  his  people 
received  the  promise  of  Divine  deliverance  from 
'*  Jahaziel  the  son  of  Zechariah,  the  son  of  Benaiah,  the 
son  of  Jeiel,  the  son  of  Mattaniah  the  Levite,  of  the 
sons  of  Asaph."  ^ 

The  punishment  of  the  wicked  king  Jehoram  was 
announced  to  him  by  "  a  writing  from  Elijah  the 
prophet."^  His  son  Ahaziah  apparently  perished 
without  any  prophetic  warning  ;  but  when  Joash  and 
his  princes  forsook  the  house  of  Jehovah  and  served 
the  Asherim  and  the  idols,  "  He  sent  prophets  to  them 
to  bring  them  again  to  Jehovah,"  among  the  rest 
Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada  the  priest.  Joash 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  message,  and  put  the  prophet 
to  death.^ 

When  Amaziah  bowed  down  before  the  gods  of 
Edom  and  burned  incense  unto  them,  Jehovah  sent 
unto  him  a  prophet  whose  name  is  not  recorded.  His 
mission  failed,  like  that  of  Zechariah  the  son  of 
Jehoiada ;  and  Amaziah,  like  Joash,  showed  no  respect 
for  the  person  of  the  messenger  of  Jehovah.  In  this 
case  the  prophet  escaped  with  his  life.  He  began  to 
deliver  his  message,  but  the  king's  patience  soon  failed, 
and  he  said  unto  the  prophet,  "  Have  we  made  thee  of 

'   2  Chion.  xix.  2,  3,  xx.  14-1S,  37,  all  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
■■^  xxi.  12-15,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
^  xxiv.  18-22,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


THE  PROPHETS  245 


the  king's  counsel  ?  forbear  ;  why  shouldest  thou  be 
smitten  ?  "  The  prophet,  we  are  told,  **  forbare  "  ;  but 
his  forbearance  did  not  prevent  his  adding  one  brief  and 
bitter  sentence  :  "  I  know  that  God  hath  determined  to 
destroy  thee,  because  thou  hast  done  this  and  hast  not 
hearkened  unto  my  counsel."  ^  Then  apparently  he 
departed  in  peace  and  was  not  smitten. 

We  have  now  reached  the  period  of  the  prophets 
whose  writings  are  extant.  We  learn  from  the 
headings  of  their  works  that  Isaiah  saw  his  "  vision," 
and  that  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  Hosea,  in  the 
days  of  Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah  ;  that  the 
word  of  Jehovah  came  to  Micah  in  the  days  of  Jotham, 
Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah  ;  and  that  Amos  "  saw "  his 
"words"  in  the  days  of  Uzziah.  But  the  chronicler 
makes  no  reference  to  any  of  these  prophets  in 
connection  with  either  Uzziah,  Jotham,  or  Ahaz. 
Their  writings  would  have  afforded  the  best  possible 
materials  for  his  history,  yet  he  entirely  neglected 
them.  In  view  of  his  anxiety  to  introduce  into  his 
narrative  all  missions  of  prophets  of  which  he  found 
any  record,  we  can  only  suppose  that  he  was  so  little 
interested  in  the  prophetical  writings  that  he  neither 
referred  to  them  nor  recollected  their  dates. 

To  Ahaz  in  Chronicles,  in  spite  of  all  his  manifold  and 
persistent  idolatry,  no  prophet  was  sent.  The  absence 
of  Divine  warning  marks  his  extraordinary  wicked- 
ness. In  the  book  of  Samuel  the  culmination  of 
Jehovah's  displeasure  against  Saul  is  shown  by  His 
refusal  to  answer  him  either  by  dreams,  by  Urim,  or  by 
prophets.  He  sends  no  prophet  to  Ahaz,  because  the 
wicked  king  of  Judah  is  utterly  reprobate.     Prophecy, 


XXV.  15,  16,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


246  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

the  token  of  the  Divine  presence  and  favour,  has 
abandoned  a  nation  given  over  to  idolatry,  and  has 
even  taken  a  temporary  refuge  in  Samaria.  Jerusalem 
was  no  longer  worthy  to  receive  the  Divine  messages, 
and  Oded  was  sent  with  his  words  of  warning  and 
humane  exhortation  to  the  children  of  Ephraim.  There 
he  met  with  a  prompt  and  full  obedience,  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  reception  accorded  by  Joash  and 
Amaziah  to  the  prophets  of  Jehovah. 

The  chronicler's  history  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah 
further  illustrates  his  indifference  to  the  prophets  whose 
writings  are  extant.  In  the  book  of  Kings  great 
prominence  is  given  to  Isaiah.  In  the  account  of 
Sennacherib's  invasion  his  messages  to  Hezekiah  are 
given  at  considerable  length.^  He  announces  to  the 
king  his  approaching  death  and  Jehovah's  gracious 
answers  to  Hezekiah's  prayer  for  a  respite  and  his 
request  for  a  sign.  When  Hezekiah,  in  his  pride  of 
wealth,  displayed  his  treasures  to  the  Babylonian 
ambassadors,  Isaiah  brought  the  message  of  Divine 
rebuke  and  judgment.  Chronicles  characteristically 
devotes  three  long  chapters  to  ritual  and  Levites,  and 
dismisses  Isaiah  in  half  a  sentence  :  "  And  Hezekiah 
the  king  and  Isaiah  the  prophet,  the  son  of  Amoz, 
prayed  because  of  this  " — i.e.,  the  threatening  language 
of  Sennacherib — "and  cried  to  Heaven."^  In  the 
accounts  of  Hezekiah's  sickness  and  recovery  and  of 
the  Babylonian  embassy  the  references  to  Isaiah  are 
entirely  omitted.  These  omissions  may  be  due  to 
lack  of  space,  so  much  of  which  had  been  devoted  to 
the  Levites  that  there  was  none  to  spare  for  the 
prophet.  • 

'  2  Kings  xix.  5-7,  20  34.  -  xxxii.  20. 


THE  PROPHETS  247 


Indeed,  at  the  very  point  where  prophecy  began  to 
exercise  a  controlling  influence  over  the  religion  of 
Judah  the  chronicler's  interest  in  the  subject  altogether 
flags.  He  tells  us  that  Jehovah  spake  to  Manasseh 
and  to  his  people,  and  refers  to  "  the  words  of  the  seers 
that  spake  to  him  in  the  name  of  Jehovah,  the  God 
of  Israel " ;  ^  but  he  names  no  prophet  and  does  not 
record  the  terms  of  any  Divine  message.  In  the  case  of 
Manasseh  his  sources  may  have  failed  him,  but  we  have 
seen  that  in  Hezekiah's  reign  he  deliberately  passes 
over  most  of  the  references  to  Isaiah. 

The  chronicler's  narrative  of  Josiah's  reign  adheres 
more  closely  to  the  book  of  Kings.  He  reproduces 
the  mission  from  the  king  to  the  prophetess  Huldah 
and  her  Divine  message  of  present  forbearance  and 
future  judgment.  The  other  prophet  of  this  reign  is 
the  heathen  king  Pharaoh  Necho,  through  whose 
mouth  the  Divine  warning  is  given  to  Josiah.  Jeremiah 
is  only  mentioned  as  lamenting  over  the  last  good 
king.^  In  the  parallel  text  of  this  passage  in  the 
apocryphal  book  of  Esdras  Pharaoh's  remonstrance 
is  given  in  a  somewhat  expanded  form  ;  but  the  editor 
of  Esdras  shrank  from  making  the  heathen  king  the 
mouthpiece  of  Jehovah.  While  Chronicles  tells  us 
that  Josiah  "  hearkened  not  unto  the  words  of  Neco 
from  the  mouth  of  God,"  Esdras,  glaringly  inconsistent 
both  with  the  context  and  the  history,  tells  us  that  he 
did  not  regard  "  the  words  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah 
spoken  by  the  mouth  of  the  Lord."^  This  amended 
statement  is  borrowed  from  the  chronicler's  account  of 
Zedekiah,  who  '*  humbled  not  himself  before  Jeremiah 

'  xxxiii.  10,  18. 

-  XXXV.  21,  22,  25,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

^  I  Esdras  i.  28. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


the  prophet,  speaking  from  the  mouth  of  Jehovah." 
But  this  king  was  not  alone  in  his  disobedience.  As 
the  inevitable  ruin  of  Jerusalem  drew  near,  the  whole 
nation,  priests  and  people  alike,  sank  deeper  and  deeper 
in  sin.  In  these  last  days,  "where  sin  abounded,  grace 
did  yet  more  abound."  Jehovah  exhausted  the  resources 
of  His  mercy  :  "  Jehovah,  the  God  of  their  fathers,  sent 
to  them  by  His  messengers,  rising  up  early  and  sending, 
because  He  had  compassion  on  His  people  and  on  His 
dwelling-place."  It  was  all  in  vain  :  "  They  mocked 
the  messengers  of  God,  and  despised  His  words  and 
scoffed  at  His  prophets,  until  the  wrath  of  Jehovah 
arose  against  His  people,  till  there  was  no  remedy." 
There  are  two  other  references  in  the  concluding  para- 
graphs of  Chronicles  to  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah ; 
but  the  history  of  prophecy  in  Judah  closes  with  this 
last  great  unavailing  manifestation  of  prophetic  activity. 
Before  considering  the  general  idea  of  the  prophet 
that  may  be  collected  from  the  various  notices  in 
Chronicles,  we  may  devote  a  little  space  to  the  chroni- 
cler's curious  attitude  towards  our  canonical  prophets. 
For  the  most  part  he  simply  follows  the  book  of  Kings 
in  making  no  reference  to  them ;  but  his  almost  entire 
silence  as  to  Isaiah  suggests  that  his  imitation  of  his 
authority  in  other  cases  is  deliberate  and  intentional, 
especially  as  we  find  him  inserting  one  or  two  references 
to  Jeremiah  not  taken  from  the  book  of  Kings.  The 
chronicler  had  much  more  opportunity  of  using  the 
canonical  prophets  than  the  author  or  authors  of  the 
book  of  Kings.  The  latter  wrote  before  Hebrew 
literature  had  been  collected  and  edited ;  but  the 
chronicler  had  access  to  all  the  literature  of  the 
monarchy.  Captivity,  and  even  later  times.  His  numerous 
extracts  from  almost  the  entire  ranee  of  the  Historical 


THE  PROPHETS  249 

Books,  together  with  the  Pentateuch  and  Psalms,  show- 
that  his  plan  included  the  use  of  various  sources,  and 
that  he  had  both  the  means  and  ability  to  work  out  his 
plan.  He  makes  two  references  to  Haggai  and  Zecha- 
riah,^  so  that  if  he  ignores  Amos,  Hosea,  and  Micah, 
and  all  but  ignores  Isaiah,  we  can  only  conclude  that  he 
does  so  of  set  purpose,  Hosea  and  Amos  might  be 
excluded  on  account  of  their  connection  with  the 
northern  kingdom;  possibly  the  strictures  of  Isaiah 
and  Micah  on  the  priesthood  and  ritual  made  the 
chronicler  unwilling  to  give  them  special  prominence. 
Such  an  attitude  on  the  part  of  a  typical  representative 
of  the  prevailing  school  of  religious  thought  has  an 
important  bearing  on  the  textual  and  other  criticism 
of  the  early  prophets.  If  they  were  neglected  by  the 
authorities  of  the  Temple  in  the  interval  between  Ezra 
and  the  Maccabees,  the  possibility  of  late  additions  and 
alterations  is  considerably  increased. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  picture  of  the  prophets 
drawn  for  us  by  the  chronicler.  Both  prophet  and 
priest  are  religious  personages,  otherwise  they  differ 
widely  in  almost  every  particular ;  we  cannot  even 
speak  of  them  as  both  holding  religious  offices.  The 
term  **  office  "  has  to  be  almost  unjustifiably  strained 
in  order  to  apply  it  to  the  prophet,  and  to  use  it  thus 
without  explanation  would  be  misleading.  The  qualifi- 
cations, status,  duties,  and  rewards  of  the  priests  are 
all  fully  prescribed  by  rigid  and  elaborate  rules  ;  but 
the  prophets  were  the  children  of  the  Spirit :  "  The 
wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the 
voice  thereof,  but  knowest  not  whence  it  cometh  and 
whither  it  goeth ;   so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the 

'  Ezra  V.  I  ;  vi.  14. 


250  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Spirit."  The  priest  was  bound  to  be  a  physically  perfect 
male  of  the  house  of  Aaron  ;  the  prophet  might  be 
of  any  tribe  and  of  either  sex.  The  warlike  Deborah 
found  a  more  peaceful  successor  in  Josiah's  counsellor 
Huldah,  and  among  the  degenerate  prophets  of 
Nehemiah's  time  a  prophetess  Noadiah^  is  specially 
mentioned.  The  priestly  or  Levitical  office  did  not 
exclude  its  holder  from  the  prophetic  vocation.  The 
Levite  Jahaziel  delivered  the  message  of  Jehovah  to 
Jehoshaphat ;  and  the  prophet  Zechariah,  whom  Joash 
put  to  death,  was  the  son  of  the  high-priest  Jehoiada, 
and  therefore  himself  a  priest.  Indeed,  upon  occasion 
the  prophetic  gift  was  exercised  by  those  whom  we 
should  scarcely  call  prophets  at  all.  Pharaoh  Necho's 
warning  to  Jehoshaphat  is  exactly  parallel  to  the 
prophetic  exhortations  addressed  to  other  kings.  In 
the  crisis  of  David's  fortunes  at  Ziklag,  when  Judah 
and  Benjamin  came  out  to  meet  him  with  apparently 
doubtful  intentions,  their  adhesion  to  the  future  king 
was  decided  by  a  prophetic  word  given  to  the  mighty 
warrior  Amasai  :  "  Then  the  Spirit  came  upon  Amasai, 
who  was  one  of  the  thirty,  and  he  said.  Thine  are  we, 
David,  and  on  thy  side,  thou  son  of  Jesse :  peace, 
peace,  be  unto  thee,  and  peace  be  to  thine  helpers  ;  for 
thy  God  helpeth  thee."^  In  view  of  this  wide  distribu- 
tion of  the  prophetic  gift,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find 
it  frequently  exercised  by  the  pious  kings.  They 
receive  and  communicate  to  the  nation  direct  intimations 
of  the  Divine  will.  David  gives  to  Solomon  and  the 
people  the  instructions  which  God  has  given  him  with 
regard  to  the  Temple  ;  God's  promises  are  personally 
addressed  to  Solomon,  without  the  intervention  of  either 

'  Nch.  vi.  14.  -  I  Chron.  xii.  18,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


THE  PROPHETS  251 


prophet  or  priest ;  Abijah  rebukes  and  exhorts 
Jeroboam  and  the  IsraeUtes  very  much  as  other 
prophets  address  the  wicked  kings ;  the  speeches 
of  Hezekiah  and  Josiah  might  equally  well  have  been 
delivered  by  one  of  the  prophets.  David  indeed  is 
expressly  called  a  prophet  by  St.  Peter  ^ ;  and  though 
the  immediate  reference  is  to  the  Psalms,  the  chroni- 
cler's history  both  of  David  and  of  other  kings  gives 
them  a  valid  claim  to  rank  as  prophets. 

The  authority  and  status  of  the  prophets  rested  on 
no  official  or  material  conditions,  such  as  hedged  in 
the  priestly  office  on  every  side.  Accordingly  their 
ancestry,  previous  history,  and  social  standing  are 
matters  with  which  the  historian  has  no  concern.  If 
the  prophet  happens  also  to  be  a  priest  or  Levite,  the 
chronicler,  of  course,  knows  and  records  his  genealogy. 
It  was  essential  that  the  genealogy  of  a  priest  should 
be  known,  but  there  are  no  genealogies  of  the 
prophets  ;  their  order  was  like  that  of  Melchizedek, 
standing  on  the  page  of  history  "  without  father,  with- 
out mother,  without  genealogy  "  ;  they  appear  abruptly, 
with  no  personal  introduction,  they  deliver  their  mes- 
sage, and  then  disappear  with  equal  abruptness. 
Sometimes  not  even  their  names  are  given.  They  had 
the  one  quahfication  compared  with  which  birth  and 
sex,  rank  and  reputation,  were  trivial  and  meaningless 
things.  The  living  word  of  Jehovah  was  on  their  lips ; 
the  power  of  His  Spirit  controlled  their  hearers  ;  mes- 
senger and  message  were  alike  their  own  credentials. 
The  supreme  religious  authority  of  the  prophet  testified 
to  the  subordinate  and  accidental  character  of  all  rites 
and  symbols.     On  the  other  hand,  the  combination  of 


Acts 


252  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

priest  and  prophet  in  the  same  system  proved  the 
loftiest  spirituahty,  the  most  emphatic  recognition  of 
the  direct  communion  of  the  soul  with  God,  to  be  con- 
sistent with  an  elaborate  and  rigid  system  of  ritual. 
The  services  and  ministry  of  the  Temple  were  like 
lamps  whose  flame  showed  pale  and  dim  when  earth 
and  heaven  were  lit  up  by  the  lightnings  of  prophetic 
inspiration. 

The  gifts  and  functions  of  the  prophets  did  not  lend 
themselves  to  any  regular  discipline  or  organisation  ; 
but  we  can  roughly  distinguish  between  two  classes  of 
prophets.  One  class  seem  to  have  exercised  their  gifts 
more  systematically  and  continuously  than  others.  Gad 
and  Nathan,  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  became  practicall}^ 
the  domestic  chaplains  and  spiritual  advisers  of  David, 
Hezekiah,  and  the  last  kings  of  Judah.  Others  are  only 
mentioned  as  delivering  a  single  message  ;  their  ministry 
seems  to  have  been  occasional,  perhaps  confined  to  a 
single  period  of  their  lives.  The  Divine  Spirit  was 
free  to  take  the  whole  life  or  to  take  a  part  only ;  He 
was  not  to  be  conditioned  even  by  gifts  of  His  own 
bestowal. 

Human  organisation  naturally  attempted  to  classify 
the  possessors  of  the  prophetic  gift,  to  set  them  apart 
as  a  regular  order,  perhaps  even  to  provide  them  with 
a  suitable  training,  and,  still  more  impossible  task,  to 
select  the  proper  recipients  of  the  gift  and  to  produce 
and  foster  the  prophetic  inspiration.  We  read  else- 
where of  "  schools  of  the  prophets  "  and  "  sons  of  the 
prophets."  The  chronicler  omits  all  reference  to  such 
institutions  or  societies ;  he  declines  to  assign  them  any 
place  in  the  prophetic  succession  in  Israel.  The  gift 
of  prophecy  was  absolutely  dependent  on  the  Divine 
will,  and  could  not  be  claimed  as  a  necessary  appur- 


THE  PROPHETS  253 


tenance  of  the  royal  court  at  Jerusalem  or  a  regular 
order  in  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  The  priests  are  included 
in  the  list  of  David's  ministers,  but  not  the  prophets 
Gad  and  Nathan.  Abijah  mentions  among  the  special 
privileges  of  Judah  '*  priests  ministering  unto  Jehovah, 
even  the  sons  of  Aaron  and  the  Levites  in  their  work  "  ; 
it  does  not  occur  to  him  to  name  prophets  among  the 
regular  and  permanent  ministers  of  Jehovah. 

The  chronicler,  in  fact,  does  not  recognise  the  pro- 
fessional prophet.  The  fifty  sons  of  the  prophets  that 
watched  Elisha  divide  the  waters  in  the  name  of  the 
God  of  Elijah  were  no  more  prophets  for  him  than  the 
four  hundred  and  fifty  prophets  of  Baal  and  the  four 
hundred  prophets  of  the  Asherah  that  ate  at  Jezebel's 
table.  The  true  prophet,  like  Amos,  need  not  be  either 
a  prophet  or  the  son  of  a  prophet  in  the  professional 
sense.  Long  before  the  chronicler's  time  the  history 
and  teaching  of  the  great  prophets  had  clearly  estab- 
lished the  distinction  between  the  professional  prophet, 
who  was  appointed  by  man  or  by  himself,  and  the 
inspired  messenger,  who  received  a  direct  commission 
from  Jehovah. 

In  describing  the  prophet's  sole  qualification  we  have 
also  stated  his  function.  He  was  the  messenger  of 
Jehovah,  and  declared  His  will.  The  priest  in  his 
ministrations  represented  Israel  before  God,  and  in 
a  measure  represented  God  to  Israel.  The  rites  and 
ceremonies  over  which  he  presided  symbolised  the 
permanent  and  unchanging  features  of  man's  religious 
experience  and  the  eternal  righteousness  and  mercy 
of  Him  who  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever. 
From  generation  to  generation  men  received  the  good 
gifts  of  God,  and  brought  the  offerings  of  their  grati- 
tude ;    they    sinned    against    God    and    came    to    seek 


254  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

forgiveness ;  and  the  house  of  Aaron  met  them  gene- 
ration after  generation  in  the  same  priestly  robes,  with 
the  same  rites,  in  the  one  Temple,  in  token  of  the 
unchanging  willingness  of  Jehovah  to  accept  and  for- 
give His  children. 

The  prophet,  too,  represented  God  to  man ;  his  words 
were  the  words  of  God ;  through  him  the  Divine  pre- 
sence and  the  Divine  Spirit  exerted  their  influence  over 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  his  hearers.  But  while 
the  priestly  ministrations  symbohsed  the  fixity  and 
permanence  of  God's  eternal  majesty,  the  prophets 
expressed  the  infinite  variety  of  His  Divine  nature  and 
its  continual  adaptation  to  all  the  changes  of  human 
life.  They  came  to  the  individual  and  to  the  nation  in 
each  crisis  of  history  with  the  Divine  message  that 
enabled  them  to  suit  themselves  to  altered  circum- 
stances, to  grapple  with  new  difficulties,  and  to  solve 
new  problems.  The  priest  and  the  prophet  together 
set  forth  the  great  paradox  that  the  unchanging  God  is 
the  source  of  all  change. 

"Lord  God,  by  whom  all  change  is  wrought, 
By  whom  new  things  to  birth  are  brought, 
In  whom  no  change  is  known, 
*****■)(■ 
To  Thee  we  rise,  in  Thee  we  rest  ; 
We  stay  at  home,  we  go  in  quest. 

Still  Thou  art  our  abode  : 
The  rapture  swells,  the  wonder  grows. 
As  full  on  us  new  life  still  flows 
From  our  unchanging  God." 

The  prophetic  utterances  recorded  by  the  chronicler 
illustrate  the  work  of  the  prophets  in  delivering  the 
message  that  met  the  present  needs  of  the  people. 
There  is  nothing  in  Chronicles  to  encourage  the 
unspiritual    notion    that  the   main  object  of   prophecy 


THE  PROPHETS  255 


was  to  give  exact  and  detailed  information  as  to  the 
remote  future.  There  is  prediction  necessarily  :  it  was 
impossible  to  declare  the  will  of  God  without  stating 
the  punishment  of  sin  and  the  victory  of  righteousness  ; 
but  prediction  is  only  part  of  the  declaration  of  God's 
will.  In  Gad  and  Nathan  prophecy  appears  as  a  means 
of  communication  between  the  inquiring  soul  and  God ; 
it  does  not,  indeed,  gratify  curiosity,  but  rather  gives 
guidance  in  perplexity  and  distress.  The  later  prophets 
constantly  intervene  to  initiate  reform  or  to  hinder  the 
carrying  out  of  an  evil  policy.  Gad  and  Nathan  lent 
their  authority  to  David's  organisation  of  the  Temple 
music ;  Asa's  reform  originated  in  the  exhortation  of 
Oded  the  prophet ;  Jehoshaphat  went  out  to  meet  the 
Moabite  and  Ammonite  invaders  in  response  to  the 
inspiriting  utterance  of  Jahaziel  the  Levite ;  Josiah 
consulted  the  prophetess  Huldah  before  carrying  out 
his  reformation  ;  the  chiefs  of  Ephraim  sent  back  the 
Jewish  captives  in  obedience  to  another  Oded.  On  the 
other  hand,  Shemaiah  prevented  Rehoboam  from  fight- 
ing against  Israel ;  Micaiah  warned  Ahab  and  Jeho- 
shaphat not  to  go  up  against  Ramoth-gilead. 

Often,  however,  the  prophetic  message  gives  the 
interpretation  of  history,  the  Divine  judgment  upon 
conduct,  with  its  sentence  of  punishment  or  reward. 
Hanani  the  seer,  for  instance,  comes  to  Asa  to  show 
him  the  real  value  of  his  apparently  satisfactory  alliance 
with  Benhadad,  king  of  Syria  :  "  Because  thou  hast 
relied  on  the  king  of  Syria,  and  hast  not  relied  on 
Jehovah  thy  God,  therefore  is  the  host  of  the  king  of 
Syria  escaped  out  of  thine  hand.  .  .  .  Herein  thou 
hast  done  foolishly ;  for  from  henceforth  thou  shalt 
have  wars."  Jehoshaphat  is  told  why  his  ships  were 
broken :     "  Because    thou    hast    joined    thyself    with 


256  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Ahaziah^  Jehovah  hath  destroyed  thy  works."  Thus 
the  prophetic  declaration  of  Divine  judgment  came  to 
mean  almost  exclusively  rebuke  and  condemnation. 
The  witness  of  a  good  conscience  may  be  left  to  speak 
for  itself ;  God  does  not  often  need  to  send  a  prophet 
to  His  obedient  servants  in  order  to  signify  His 
approval  of  their  righteous  acts.  But  the  censures  of 
conscience  need  both  the  stimulus  of  external  sugges- 
tion and  the  support  of  external  authority.  Upon  the 
prophets  was  constantly  laid  the  unwelcome  task  of 
rousing  and  bracing  the  conscience  for  its  stern  duty. 
They  became  the  heralds  of  Divine  wrath,  the  precur- 
sors of  national  misfortune.  Often,  too,  the  warnings 
that  should  have  saved  the  people  were  neglected  or 
resented,  and  thus  became  the  occasion  of  new  sin  and 
severer  punishment.  We  must  not,  however,  lay  too 
much  stress  on  this  aspect  of  the  prophets'  work. 
They  were  no  mere  Cassandras,  announcing  inevitable 
ruin  at  the  hands  of  a  blind  destiny  ;  they  were  not 
always,  or  even  chiefly,  the  messengers  of  coming  doom. 
If  they  declared  the  wrath  of  God,  they  also  vindicated 
His  justice  ;  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  which  they  so  often 
foretold,  mercy  and  grace  tempered  and  at  last  over- 
came judgment.  They  taught,  even  in  their  sternest 
utterances,  the  moral  government  of  the  world  and  the 
benevolent  purpose  of  its  Ruler.  These  are  man's  only 
hope,  even  in  his  sin  and  suffering,  the  only  ground 
for  effort,  and  the  only  comfort  in  misfortune. 

There  are,  however,  one  or  two  elements  in  the 
chronicler's  notices  of  the  prophets  that  scarcely  har- 
monise with  this  general  picture.  The  scanty  references 
of  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  to  the  "  schools  " 
and  sons  of  the  prophets  have  suggested  the  theory 
that  the  prophets  were  the  guardians  of  national  educa- 


THE  PROPHETS  257 


tion,  culture,  and  literature.  The  chronicler  expressly 
assigns  the  function  to  the  Levites,  and  does  not 
recognise  that  the  "  schools  of  the  prophets "  had 
any  permanent  significance  for  the  religion  of  Israel, 
possibly  because  they  chiefly  appear  in  connection  with 
the  northern  kingdom.  At  the  same  time,  we  find  this 
idea  of  the  literary  character  of  the  prophets  in 
Chronicles  in  a  new  form.  The  authorities  referred 
to  in  the  subscriptions  to  each  reign  bear  the  names 
of  the  prophets  who  flourished  during  the  reign.  The 
primary  significance  of  the  tradition  followed  by  the 
chronicler  is  the  supreme  importance  of  the  prophet 
for  his  period ;  he,  and  not  the  king,  gives  it  a  distinc- 
tive character.  Therefore  the  prophet  gives  his  name 
to  his  period,  as  the  consuls  at  Rome,  the  Archon 
Basileus  at  Athens,  and  the  Assyrian  priests  gave  their 
own  names  to  their  year  of  office.  Probably  by  the 
time  Chronicles  was  written  the  view  had  been  adopted 
which  we  know  prevailed  later  on,  and  it  was  supposed 
that  the  prophets  wrote  the  Historical  Books  which  bore 
their  names.  The  ancient  prophets  had  given  the  Divine 
interpretation  of  the  course  of  events  and  pronounced 
the  Divine  judgment  on  history.  The  Historical  Books 
were  written  for  religious  edification ;  they  contained 
a  similar  interpretation  and  judgment.  The  religious 
instincts  of  later  Judaism  rightly  classed  them  with 
the  prophetic  Scriptures. 

The  striking  contrast  we  have  been  able  to  trace 
between  the  priests  and  the  prophets  in  their  qualifi- 
cations and  duties  extends  also  to  their  rewards.  The 
book  of  Kings  gives  us  glimpses  of  the  way  in  which 
the  reverent  gratitude  of  the  people  made  some  pro- 
vision for  the  maintenance  of  the  prophets.  We  are 
all  familiar  with  the  hospitality  of  the  Shunamm.ite,  and 

17 


258  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

we  read  how  "  a  man  from  Baal-shalishah  "  brought 
first-fruits  to  Elisha.^  But  the  chronicler  omits  all 
such  references  as  being  connected  with  the  northern 
kingdom,  and  does  not  give  us  any  similar  information 
as  to  the  prophets  of  Judah.  He  is  not  usually  indif- 
ferent as  to  ways  and  means.  He  devotes  some  space 
to  the  revenues  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  and  delights  to 
dwell  on  the  sources  of  priestly  income.  But  it  never 
seems  to  occur  to  him  that  the  prophets  have  any 
wants  to  be  provided  for.  To  use  George  Macdonald's 
phrase,  he  is  quite  content  to  leave  them  "on  the  lily 
and  sparrow  footing."  The  priesthood  and  the  Levites 
must  be  richly  endowed  ;  the  honour  of  Israel  and  of 
Jehovah  is  concerned  in  their  having  cities,  tithes, 
first-fruits,  and  offerings.  Prophets  are  sent  to  re- 
proach the  people  when  the  priestly  dues  are  with- 
held ;  but  for  themselves  the  prophets  might  have  said 
with  St.  Paul,  "  We  seek  not  yours,  but  you."  No  one 
supposed  that  the  authority  and  dignity  of  the  prophets 
needed  to  be  supported  by  ecclesiastical  status,  splendid 
robes,  and  great  incomes.  Spiritual  force  so  manifestly 
resided  in  them  that  they  could  afford  to  dispense  with 
the  most  impressive  symbols  of  power  and  authority. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  received  an  honour  that  was 
never  accorded  to  the  priesthood  :  they  suffered  perse- 
cution for  the  cause  of  Jehovah.  Zechariah  the  son 
of  Jehoiada  was  put  to  death,  and  Micaiah  the  son  of 
Imlah  was  imprisoned.  We  are  never  told  that  the 
priest  as  priest  suffered  persecution.  Ahaz  closed 
the  Temple,  Manasseh  set  up  an  idol  in  the  house  of 
God,  but  we  do  not  read  of  either  Ahaz  or  Manasseh 
that  they  slew  the  priests  of  Jehovah.     The  teaching 

'  2  Kings  iv.  42. 


THE  PROPHETS  259 


of  the  prophets  was  direct  and  personal,  and  thus 
eminently  calculated  to  excite  resentment  and  provoke 
persecution ;  the  priestly  services,  however,  did  not  at 
all  interfere  with  concurrent  idolatry,  and  the  priests 
were  accustomed  to  receive  and  execute  the  orders  of 
the  kings.  There  is  nothing  to  suggest  that  they 
sought  to  obtrude  the  worship  of  Jehovah  upon  un- 
wilHng  converts ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  some, 
at  any  rate,  of  the  priests  allowed  themselves  to  be 
made  the  tools  of  the  wicked  kings.  On  the  eve  of 
the  Captivity  we  read  that  "  the  chiefs  of  the  priests 
and  the  people  trespassed  very  greatly  after  all  the 
abominations  of  the  heathen,  and  they  polluted  the 
house  of  Jehovah."  No  such  disloyalty  is  recorded 
of  the  prophets  in  Chronicles.  The  most  splendid 
incomes  cannot  purchase  loyalty.  It  is  still  true  that 
"  the  hireling  fleeth  because  he  is  a  hireling "  ;  men's 
most  passionate  devotion  is  for  the  cause  in  which  they 
have  suffered. 

We  have  seen  that  the  modern  ministry  presents 
certain  parallels  to  the  ancient  priesthood.  Where  are 
we  to  look  for  an  analogue  to  the  prophet  ?  If  the 
minister  be,  in  a  sense,  a  priest  when  he  leads  the 
worship  of  the  people,  is  he  also  a  prophet  when  he 
preaches  to  them  ?  Preaching  is  intended  to  be — 
perhaps  we  may  venture  to  say  that  it  mostly  is — a 
declaration  of  the  will  of  God.  Moreover,  it  is  not  the 
exposition  of  a  fixed  and  unchangeable  ritual  or  even 
of  a  set  of  rigid  theological  formulae.  The  preacher,  like 
the  prophet,  seeks  to  meet  the  demands  for  new  light 
that  are  made  by  constantly  changing  circumstances  ; 
he  seeks  to  adapt  the  eternal  truth  to  the  varying  needs 
of  individual  lives.  So  far  he  is  a  prophet,  but  the 
essential  qualifications  of  the  prophet  are  still  to   be 


26o  THE   BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

sought  after.  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  did  not  declare  the 
word  of  Jehovah  as  they  had  learnt  it  from  a  Bible  or 
any  other  book,  nor  yet  according  to  the  traditions  of 
a  school  or  the  teaching  of  great  authorities ;  such 
declaration  might  be  made  by  the  scribes  and  rabbis 
in  later  times.  But  the  prophets  of  Chronicles  re- 
ceived their  message  from  Jehovah  Himself;  while  they 
mused  upon  the  needs  of  the  people,  the  fire  of  inspira- 
tion burned  within  them ;  then  they  spoke.  Moreover, 
like  their  great  antitype,  they  spoke  with  authority, 
and  not  as  the  scribes ;  their  words  carried  with  them 
conviction  even  when  they  did  not  produce  obedience. 
The  reality  of  men's  conviction  of  their  Divine  authority 
was  shown  by  the  persecution  to  which  they  were 
subjected.  Are  these  tokens  of  the  prophet  also  the 
notes  of  the  Christian  ministry  of  preaching  ?  Prophets 
were  found  among  the  house  of  Aaron  and  from  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  but  not  every  Levite  or  priest  was  a 
prophet.  Every  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  has 
numbered  among  its  official  ministers  men  who 
delivered  their  message  with  an  inspired  conviction  of 
its  truth ;  in  them  the  power  and  presence  of  the 
Spirit  have  compelled  a  belief  in  their  authority  to  speak 
for  God  :  this  belief  has  received  the  twofold  attesta- 
tion of  hearts  and  consciences  submitted  to  the  Divine 
will  on  the  one  hand  or  of  bitter  and  rancorous 
hostility  on  the  other.  In  every  Church  we  find  the 
record  of  men  who  have  spoken,  "  not  in  words  which 
man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Spirit  teacheth." 
Such  were  Wyclif  and  Latimer,  Calvin  and  Luther, 
George  Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys ;  such,  too,  were 
Moffat  and  Livingstone.  Nor  need  we  suppose  that 
in  the  modern  Christian  Church  the  gift  of  prophecy 
has  been  confined  to  men  of  brilliant  genius  who  have 


THE  PROPHETS  261 


been  conspicuously  successful.  In  the  sacred  canon 
Haggai  and  Obadiah  stand  side  by  side  with  Isaiah, 
Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel.  The  chronicler  recognises  the 
prophetic  calling  -of  men  too  obscure  to  be  mentioned 
by  name.  He  whom  God  hath  sent  speaketh  the 
words  of  God,  not  necessarily  the  orator  whom  men 
crowd  to  hear  and  whose  name  is  recorded  in  history  ; 
and  God  giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure.  Many  of 
the  least  distinguished  of  His  servants  are  truly  His 
prophets,  speaking,  by  the  conviction  He  has  given 
them,  a  message  which  comes  home  with  power  to 
some  hearts  at  any  rate,  and  is  a  savour  of  life  unto 
life  and  of  death  unto  death.  The  seals  of  their 
ministry  are  to  be  found  in  redeemed  and  purified 
lives,  and  also  only  too  often  in  the  bitter  and 
vindictive  ill-will  of  those  whom  their  faithfulness  has 
offended. 

We  naturally  expect  to  find  that  the  official  ministry 
affords  the  most  suitable  sphere  for  the  exercise  of  the 
gift  of  prophecy.  Those  who  are  conscious  of  a  Divine 
message  will  often  seek  the  special  opportunities  which 
the  ministry  affords.  But  our  study  of  Chronicles 
reminds  us  that  the  vocation  of  the  prophet  cannot 
be  limited  to  any  external  organisation;  it  was  not 
confined  to  the  official  ministry  of  Israel ;  it  cannot 
be  conditioned  by  recognition  by  bishops,  presby- 
teries, conferences,  or  Churches ;  it  will  often  find  its 
only  external  credential  in  a  gracious  influence  over  in- 
dividual lives.  Nay,  the  prophet  may  have  his  Divine 
vocation  and  be  entirely  rejected  of  men.  In  Chronicles 
we  find  prophets,  like  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada, 
whose  one  Divine  message  is  received  with  scorn  and 
defiance. 

In  practice,  if  not  in  theory,  the  Churches  have  long 


262  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

since  recognised  that  the  prophetic  gift  is  found  outside 
any  official  ministry,  and  that  they  may  be  taught  the 
will  of  God  by  men  and  women  of  all  ranks  and  callings. 
They  have  provided  opportunities  for  the  free"  exercise 
of  such  gifts  in  lay  preaching,  missions,  Sunday- 
schools,  meetings  of  all  kinds. 

We  have  here  stumbled  upon  another  modern  contro- 
versy :  the  desirability  of  women  preaching.  Chronicles 
mentions  prophetesses  as  well  as  prophets ;  on  the 
other  hand,  there  were  no  Jewish  priestesses.  The 
modern  minister  combines  some  priestly  duties  with 
the  opportunity,  at  least,  of  exercising  the  gift  of 
prophecy.  The  mention  of  only  two  or  three  pro- 
phetesses in  the  Old  Testament  shows  that  the 
possession  of  the  gift  by  women  was  exceptional. 
These  few  instances,  however,  are  sufficient  to  prove 
that  God  did  not  in  old  times  limit  the  gift  to  men  ; 
they  suggest  at  any  rate  the  possibility  of  its  being 
possessed  by  women  now,  and  when  women  have 
a  Divine  message  the  Church  will  not  venture  to 
quench  the  Spirit.  Of  course  the  application  of  these 
broad  principles  would  have  to  be  adapted  to  the 
circumstances  of  individual  Churches.  Huldah,  for 
instance,  is  not  described  as  delivering  any  public 
address  to  the  people ;  the  king  sent  his  ministers  to 
consult  her  in  her  own  house.  Whatever  hesitation 
may  be  felt  about  the  public  ministry  of  women,  no 
one  will  question  their  Divine  commission  to  carry  the 
messages  of  God  to  the  bedsides  of  the  sick  and  the 
homes  of  the  poor.  Most  of  us  have  known  women  to 
whom  men  have  gone,  as  Josiah's  ministers  went  to 
Huldah,  to  "  inquire  of  the  Lord." 

Another  practical  question,  the  payment  of  the 
ministers  of  religion,  has  already   been  raised  by  the 


THE  PROPHETS  263 


chronicler's  account  of  the  revenues  of  the  priests. 
What  more  do  we  learn  on  the  subject  from  his  silence 
as  to  the  maintenance  of  the  prophets  ?  The  silence 
is,  of  course,  eloquent  as  to  the  extent  to  which  even  a 
pious  Levite  may  be  preoccupied  with  his  own  worldly 
interests  and  quite  indifferent  to  other  people's ; 
but  it  would  not  have  been  possible  if  the  idea  of 
revenues  and  endowments  for  the  prophets  had  ever 
been  very  familiar  to  men's  minds.  It  has  been  said 
that  to-day  the  prophet  sells  his  inspiration,  but  the 
gift  of  God  can  no  more  be  bought  and  sold  with 
money  now  than  in  ancient  Israel.  The  purely 
spiritual  character  of  true  prophecy,  its  entire  depend- 
ence on  Divine  inspiration,  makes  it  impossible  to  hire  a 
prophet  at  a  fixed  salary  regulated  by  the  quality  and 
extent  of  his  gifts.  By  the  grace  of  God,  there  is  an 
intimate  practical  connection  between  the  work  of  the 
official  ministry  and  the  inspired  declaration  of  the 
Divine  will ;  and  this  connection  has  its  bearing  upon 
the  payment  of  ministers.  Men's  gratitude  is  stirred 
when  they  have  received  comfort  and  help  through 
the  spiritual  gifts  of  their  minister,  but  in  principle 
there  is  no  connection  between  the  gift  of  prophecy 
and  the  payment  of  the  ministry.  A  Church  can 
purchase  the  enjoyment  of  eloquence,  learning,  intellect, 
and  industry ;  a  high  character  has  a  pecuniary  value 
for  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  for  commercial  purposes. 
The  prophet  may  be  provided  with  leisure,  society,  and 
literature  so  that  the  Divine  message  may  be  delivered 
in  its  most  attractive  form ;  he  may  be  installed  in  a 
large  and  well-appointed  building,  so  that  he  may 
have  the  best  possible  opportunity  of  delivering  his 
message  ;  he  will  naturally  receive  a  larger  income  when 
he    surrenders    obscure    and    limited    opportunities    to 


264  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

minister  in  some  more  suitable  sphere.  But  when  we 
have  said  all,  it  is  still  only  the  accessories  that  have 
to  do  with  payment,  not  the  Divine  gift  of  prophecy 
itself.  When  the  prophet's  message  is  not  comforting, 
when  his  words  grate  upon  the  theological  and  social 
prejudices  of  his  hearers,  especially  when  he  is  invited 
to  curse  and  is  Divinely  compelled  to  bless,  there  is  no 
question  of  payment  for  such  ministry.  It  has  been 
said  of  Christ,  "  For  the  minor  details  necessary  to 
secure  respect,  and  obedience,  and  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  vulgar,  for  the  tact,  the  finesse,  the  compromising 
faculty,  the  judicious  ostentation  of  successful  politicians 
— for  these  arts  He  was  not  prepared."  ^  Those  who 
imitate  their  Master  often  share  His  reward. 

The  slight  and  accidental  connection  of  the  pay- 
ment of  ministers  with  their  prophetic  gifts  is  further 
illustrated  by  the  free  exercise  of  such  gifts  by 
men  and  women  who  have  no  ecclesiastical  status 
and  do  not  seek  any  material  reward.  Here  again 
any  exact  adoption  of  ancient  methods  is  impossible ; 
we  may  accept  from  the  chronicler  the  great  principle 
that  loyal  believers  will  make  all  adequate  provision  for 
the  service  and  work  of  Jehovah,  and  that  they  will  be 
prepared  to  honour  Him  in  the  persons  of  those  whom 
they  choose  to  represent  them  before  Him,  and  also  of 
those  whom  they  recognise  as  delivering  to  them  His 
messages.  On  the  other  hand,  the  prophet — and  for  our 
present  purpose  we  may  extend  the  term  to  the 
humblest  and  least  gifted  Christian  who  in  any  way 
seeks  to  speak  for  Christ — the  prophet  speaks  by  the 
impulse  of  the  Spirit  and  from  no  meaner  motive. 

With   regard  to   the   functions   of  the  prophet,   the 

'  Abbott,  Through  Nature  to  Christ,  p.  295. 


THE  PROPHETS  265 


Spirit  is  as  entirely  free  to  dictate  His  own  message 
as  He  is  to  choose  His  own  messenger.  The  chroni- 
cler's prophets  were  concerned  with  foreign  poHtics — 
alliances  with  Syria  and  Assyria,  wars  with  Egypt  and 
Samaria — as  well  as  with  the  ritual  of  the  Temple  and 
the  worship  of  Jehovah.  They  discerned  a  religious 
significance  in  the  purely  secular  matter  of  a  census. 
Jehovah  had  His  purposes  for  the  civil  government 
and  international  policy  of  Israel  as  well  as  for  its 
creed  and  services.  If  we  lay  down  the  principle  that 
politics,  whether  local  or  national,  are  to  be  kept  out  of 
the  pulpit,  we  must  either  exclude  from  the  official 
ministry  all  who  possess  any  measure  of  the  prophetic 
gift,  or  else  carefully  stipulate  that,  if  they  be  conscious 
of  any  obligation  to  declare  the  Lord's  will  in  matters 
of  public  righteousness,  they  shall  find  some  more 
suitable  place  than  the  Lord's  house  and  some  more 
suitable  time  than  the  Lord's  day.  When  we  suggest 
that  the  prophet  should  mind  his  own  business  by 
confining  himself  to  questions  of  doctrine,  worship,  and 
the  religious  experiences  of  the  individual,  we  are  in 
danger  of  denying  God's  right  to  a  voice  in  social  and 
national  affairs. 

Turning,  however,  to  more  directly  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  we  have  noted  that  Asa's  reformation  received  its 
first  impulse  from  the  utterances  of  the  prophet  Azariah 
or  Oded,  and  also  that  one  feature  of  the  prophet's  work 
is  to  provide  for  the  fresh  needs  developed  by  chang- 
ing circumstances.  A  priesthood  or  any  other  official 
ministry  is  often  wanting  in  elasticity ;  it  is  necessarily 
attached  to  an  established  organisation  and  trammelled 
by  custom  and  tradition.  The  Holy  Spirit  in  all  ages 
has  commissioned  prophets  as  the  free  agents  in  new 
movements  in   the    Divine  government    of   the  world, 


266  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

They  may  be  ecclesiastics,  like  many  of  the  Reformers 
and  like  the  Wesleys ;  but  they  are  not  dominated  by 
the  official  spirit.  The  initial  impulse  that  moves  such 
men  is  partly  one  of  recoil  from  their  environment ; 
and  the  environment  in  return  casts  them  out.  Again, 
prophets  may  become  ecclesiastics,  like  the  tinker  to 
whom  EngUsh-speaking  Christians  owe  one  of  their 
great  religious  classics  and  the  cobbler  who  stirred  up 
the  Churches  to  missionary  enthusiasm.  Or  they 
may  remain  from  beginning  to  end  without  official 
status  in  any  Church,  like  the  apostle  of  the  anti- 
slavery  movement.  In  any  case  the  impulse  to  a 
larger,  purer,  and  nobler  standard  of  life  than  that 
consecrated  by  long  usage  and  ancient  tradition  does 
not  come  from  the  ecclesiastical  official  because  of  his 
official  training  and  experience ;  the  living  waters  that 
go  out  of  Jerusalem  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  are  too 
wide,  and  deep,  and  strong  to  flow  in  the  narrow  rock- 
hewn  aqueducts  of  tradition  :  they  make  new  chamiels 
for  themselves ;  and  these  channels  are  the  men  who 
do  not  demand  that  the  Spirit  shall  speak  according  to 
familiar  formulae  and  stereotyped  ideas,  but  are  willing 
to  be  the  prophets  of  strange  and  even  uncongenial 
truth.  Or,  to  use  the  great  metaphor  of  St.  John's 
Gospel,  with  such  men,  both  for  themselves  and  for 
others,  the  water  that  the  Lord  gives  them  becomes  a 
well  of  water  springing  up  unto  eternal  life. 

But  the  chronicler's  picture  of  the  work  of  the 
prophets  has  its  darker  side.  Few  were  privileged 
to  give  the  signal  for  an  immediate  and  happy  refor- 
mation. Most  of  the  prophets  were  charged  with 
messages  of  rebuke  and  condemnation,  so  that  they 
were  ready  to  cry  out  with  Jeremiah,  "  Woe  is  me,  my 
mother,  that  thou  hast  borne  me,  a  man  of  strife  and 


THE  PROPHETS  267 


a  man  of  contention  to  the  whole  earth  !  I  have  not 
lent  on  usury,  neither  have  men  lent  to  me  on  usury, 
yet  every  one  of  them  doth  curse  me."  ^ 

Perhaps  even  to-day  the  prophetic  spirit  often 
charges  its  possessors  with  equally  unwelcome  duties. 
We  trust  that  the  Christian  conscience  is  more  sensitive 
than  that  of  ancient  Israel,  and  that  the  Church  is 
more  ready  to  profit  by  the  warnings  addressed  to  it ; 
but  the  response  to  the  sterner  teaching  of  the  Spirit  is 
not  always  accompanied  by  a  kindly  feeling  towards 
the  teacher,  and  even  where  there  is  progress,  the 
progress  is  slow  compared  to  the  eager  longing  of  the 
prophet  for  the  spiritual  growth  of  his  hearers.  And 
yet  the  sequel  of  the  chronicler's  history  suggests 
some  relief  to  the  gloomier  side  of  the  picture.  Prophet 
after  prophet  utters  his  unavailing  and  seemingly 
useless  rebuke,  and  delivers  his  announcement  of 
coming  ruin,  and  at  last  the  ruin  falls  upon  the  nation. 
But  that  is  not  the  end.  Before  the  chronicler  wrote 
there  had  arisen  a  restored  Israel,  purified  from  idolatry 
and  delivered  from  many  of  its  former  troubles.  The 
Restoration  was  only  rendered  possible  through  the 
continued  testimony  of  the  prophets  to  the  Lord  and  His 
righteousness.  However  barren  of  immediate  results 
such  testimony  may  seem  to-day,  it  is  still  the  word  of 
the  Lord  that  cannot  return  unto  Him  void,  but  shall 
accomplish  that  which  He  pleaseth  and  shall  prosper 
in  the  thing  whereto  He  sent  it. 

The  chronicler's  conception  of  the  prophetic  character 
of  the  historian,  whereby  his  narrative  sets  forth  God's 
will  and  interprets  His  purposes,  is  not  altogether 
popular  at  present.     The  teleological  view  of  history  is 


Jer.  XV.  10. 


268  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

somewhat  at  a  discount.  Yet  the  prophetic  method,  so 
to  speak,  of  Carlyle  and  Ruskin  is  largely  historical ; 
and  even  in  so  unlikely  a  quarter  as  the  works  of 
George  Eliot  we  can  find  an  example  of  didactic  history. 
Romola  is  largely  taken  up  with  the  story  of  Savo- 
narola, told  so  as  to  bring  out  its  religious  significance. 
But  teleological  history  is  sometimes  a  failure  even 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  Christian  student,  because  it 
defeats  its  own  ends.  He  who  is  bent  on  deducing 
lessons  from  history  may  lay  undue  stress  on  part  of 
its  significance  and  obscure  the  rest.  The  historian  is 
perhaps  most  a  prophet  when  he  leaves  history  to 
speak  for  itself.  In  this  sense,  we  may  venture  to 
attribute  a  prophetic  character  to  purely  scientific 
history ;  accurate  and  unbiassed  narrative  is  the  best 
starting-point  for  the  study  of  the  religious  significance 
of  the  course  of  events. 

In  concluding  our  inquiry  as  to  how  far  modern 
Church  life  is  illustrated  by  the  work  of  the  prophets, 
one  is  tempted  to  dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  methods 
they  did  not  use  and  the  subjects  not  dealt  with  in 
their  utterances.  This  theme,  however,  scarcely  belongs 
to  the  exposition  of  Chronicles ;  it  would  be  more 
appropriate  to  a  complete  examination  of  the  history 
and  writings  of  the  prophets.  One  point,  however, 
may  be  noticed.  Their  utterances  in  Chronicles  lay 
less  direct  stress  on  moral  considerations  than  the 
writings  of  the  canonical  prophets,  not  because  of  any 
indifference  to  morality,  but  because,  seen  in  the 
distance  of  a  remote  past,  all  other  sins  seemed  to  be 
summed  up  in  faithlessness  to  Jehovah.  Perhaps  we 
may  see  in  this  a  suggestion  of  a  final  judgment  of 
history,  which  should  be  equally  instructive  to  the 
religious  man  who  has  any   inclination    to  disparage 


tHE  PROPHETS  269 


morality  and  to  the  moral  man  who  wishes  to  ignore 
religion. 

Our  review  and  discussion  of  the  varied  references 
of  Chronicles  to  the  prophets  brings  home  to  us  with 
fresh  force  the  keen  interest  felt  in  them  by  the 
chronicler  and  the  supreme  importance  he  attached  to 
their  work.  The  reverent  homage  of  a  Levite  of  the 
second  Temple  centuries  after  the  golden  age  of 
prophecy  is  an  eloquent  testimony  to  the  unique  position 
of  the  prophets  in  Israel.  His  treatment  of  the  subject 
shows  that  the  lofty  ideal  of  their  office  and  mission 
had  lost  nothing  in  the  course  of  the  development  of 
Judaism ;  his  selection  from  the  older  material  em- 
phasises the  independence  of  the  true  prophet  of  any 
professional  status  or  consideration  of  material  reward  ; 
his  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  prophets  to  the 
State  and  Church  in  Judah  is  an  encouragement  to 
those  **  who  look  for  redemption  in  Jerusalem,"  and 
who  trust  the  eternal  promise  of  God  that  in  all  times 
of  His  people's  need  He  "  will  raise  up  a  prophet  from 
among  their  brethren,  .  .  .  and  I  will  put  My  words 
in  his  mouth,  and  he  shall  speak  unto  them  all  that 
I  shall  command  them."  ^  "  The  memorial  of  the 
prophets  was  blessed,  ...  for  they  comforted  Jacob, 
and  delivered  them  by  assured  hope."  ^  Many  prophets 
of  the  Church  have  also  left  a  blessed  memorial  of 
comfort  and  deliverance,  and  God  ever  renews  this 
more  than  apostolic  succession. 

'  Deut.  xviii.  18.  ^  Ecclus.  xlix.  10. 


CHAPTER    X 

SATAN 
I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  i. 

"And  again  the  anger  of  Jehovah  was  kindled  against  Israel,  and 
He  moved  David  against  them  saying,  Go,  number  Israel  and  Judah." 
— 2  Sam.  xxiv.  I. 

"  And  Satan  stood  up  against  Israel,  and  moved  David  to  number 
Israel." — i  Chron.  xxi.  i. 

"  Let  no  man  say  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted  of  God ;  for 
God  cannot  be  tempted  with  evil,  and  He  Himself  tempteth  no  man  : 
but  each  man  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn  away  by  his  own  lust  and 
enticed." — James  i.  13,  14. 

THE  census  of  David  is  found  both  in  the  book  of 
Samuel  and  in  Chronicles,  in  very  much  the 
same  form ;  but  the  chronicler  has  made  a  number 
of  small  but  important  alterations  and  additions. 
Taken  together,  these  changes  involve  a  new  interpreta- 
tion of  the  history,  and  bring  out  lessons  that  cannot  so 
easily  be  deduced  from  the  narrative  in  the  book  of 
Samuel.  Hence  it  is  necessary  to  give  a  separate 
exposition  of  the  narrative  in  Chronicles.  . 

As  before,  we  will  first  review  the  alterations  made 
by  the  chronicler  and  then  expound  the  narrative  in 
the  form  in  which  it  left  his  hand,  or  rather  in  the 
form  in  which  it  stands  in  the  Masoretic  text.  Any 
attempt  to  deal  with  the  peculiarly  complicated  problem 
of  the  textual  criticism  of  Chronicles  would  be  out  of 

270 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  271 


place  here.  Probably  there  are  no  corruptions  of  the 
text  that  would  appreciably  affect  the  general  exposition 
of  this  chapter. 

At  the  very  outset  the  chronicler  substitutes  Satan 
for  Jehovah,  and  thus  changes  the  whole  significance  of 
the  narrative.  This  point  is  too  important  to  be  dealt 
with  casually,  and  must  be  reserved  for  special  con- 
sideration later  on.  In  ver.  2  there  is  a  slight  change 
that  marks  the  different  points  of  the  views  of  the 
Chronicler  and  the  author  of  the  narrative  in  the 
book  of  Samuel.  The  latter  had  written  that  Joab 
numbered  the  people  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  a  merely 
conventional  phrase  indicating  the  extent  of  the  census. 
It  might  possibly,  however,  have  been  taken  to  denote 
that  the  census  began  in  the  north  and  was  concluded 
in  the  south.  To  the  chronicler,  whose  interests  all 
centred  in  Judah,  such  an  arrangement  seemed  absurd ; 
and  he  carefully  guarded  against  any  mistake  by  altering 
**  Dan  to  Beersheba"  into  ''Beersheba  to  Dan."  In 
ver.  3  the  substance  of  Joab's  words  is  not  altered, 
but  various  slight  touches  are  added  to  bring  out  more 
clearly  and  forcibly  what  is  implied  in  the  book  of 
Samuel.  Joab  had  spoken  of  the  census  as  being  the 
king's  pleasure.^  It  was  scarcely  appropriate  to  speak 
of  David  "  taking  pleasure  in  "  a  suggestion  of  Satan. 
InChronicles  Joab's  words  are  less  forcible,  "Why  doth 
my  lord  require  this  thing  ?  "  Again,  in  the  book  of 
Samuel  Joab  protests  against  the  census  without 
assigning  any  reason.  The  context,  it  is  true,  readily 
suppHes  one  ;  but  in  Chronicles  all  is  made  clear  by  the 
addition,  "  Why  will  he"  (David)  *'  be  a  cause  of  guilt 
unto    Israel  ? "       Further   on    the    chronicler's    special 

'  R.V.  "  delight  in  "  is  somewhat  too  strong. 


272  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

interest  in  Judah  again  betrays  itself.  The  book  of 
Samuel  described,  with  some  detail,  the  progress  of  the 
enumerators  through  Eastern  and  Northern  Palestine 
by  way  of  Beefsheba  to  Jerusalem.  Chronicles  having 
already  made  them  start  from  Beersheba,  omits  these 
details. 

In  ver.  5  the  numbers  in  Chronicles  differ  not  only 
from  those  of  the  older  narrative,  but  also  from  the 
chronicler's  own  statistics  in  chap,  xxvii.  In  this 
last  account  the  men  of  war  are  divided  into  twelve 
courses  of  twenty-four  thousand  each,  making  a  total 
of  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand ;  in  the 
book  of  Samuel  Israel  numbers  eight  hundred  thousand, 
and  Judah  five  hundred  thousand ;  but  in  our 
passage  Israel  is  increased  to  eleven  hundred  thousand, 
and  Judah  is  reduced  to  four  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand.  Possibly  the  statistics  in  chap,  xxvii. 
are  not  intended  to  include  all  the  fighting  men, 
otherwise  the  figures  cannot  be  harmonised.  The 
discrepancy  between  our  passage  and  the  book  of 
Samuel  is  perhaps  partly  explained  by  the  following 
verse,  which  is  an  addition  of  the  chronicler.  In  the 
book  of  Samuel  the  census  is  completed,  but  our 
additional  verse  states  that  Levi  and  Benjamin  were 
not  included  in  the  census.  The  chronicler  understood 
that  the  five  hundred  thousand  assigned  to  Judah  in 
the  older  narrative  were  the  joint  total  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin  ;  he  accordingly  reduced  the  total  by  thirty 
thousand,  because,  according  to  his  view,  Benjamin  was 
omitted  from  the  census.  The  increase  in  the  number 
of  the  Israelites  is  unexpected.  The  chronicler  does 
not  usually  overrate  the  northern  tribes.  Later  on 
Jeroboam,  eighteen  years  after  the  disruption,  takes  the 
field   against   Abijah   with    "  eight   hundred    thousand 


1  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  273 

chosen  men,"  a  phrase  that  imphes  a  still  larger 
number  of  fighting  men,  if  all  had  been  mustered. 
Obviously  the  rebel  king  would  not  be  expected  to  be 
able  to  bring  into  the  field  as  large  a  force  as  the 
entire  strength  of  Israel  in  the  most  flourishing  days 
of  David.  The  chronicler's  figures  in  these  two 
passages  are  consistent,  but  the  comparison  is  not  an 
adequate  reason  for  the  alteration  in  the  present 
chapter.  Textual  corruption  is  always  a  possibility  in 
the  case  of  numbers,  but  on  the  whole  this  particular 
change  does  not  admit  of  a  satisfactory  explanation. 

In  ver.  7  we  have  a  very  striking  alteration.  Accord- 
ing to  the  book  of  Samuel,  David's  repentance  was 
entirely  spontaneous  :  "David's  heart  smote  him  after 
that  he  had  numbered  the  people "  ^ ;  but  here  God 
smites  Israel,  and  then  David's  conscience  awakes. 
In  ver.  12  the  chronicler  makes  a  shght  addition, 
apparently  to  gratify  his  literary  taste.  In  the  original 
narrative  the  third  alternative  offered  to  David  had 
been  described  simply  as  **  the  pestilence,"  but  in 
Chronicles  the  words  "  the  sword  of  Jehovah "  are 
added  in  antithesis  to  "  the  sword  of  Thine  enemies  " 
in  the  previous  verse. 

Ver.  16,  which  describes  David's  vision  of  the 
angel  with  the  drawn  sword,  is  an  expansion  of  the 
simple  statement  of  the  book  of  Samuel  that  David 
saw  the  angel.  In  ver.  18  we  are  not  merely  told 
that  Gad  spake  to  David,  but  that  he  spake  by  the 
command  of  the  angel  of  Jehovah.  Ver.  20,  which 
tells  us  how  Oman  saw  the  angel,  is  an  addition  of 
the  chronicler's.  All  these  changes  lay  stress  upon 
the  intervention  of  the  angel,  and  illustrate  the  interest 

'  It  is,  however,  possible  that  the  text  in  Samuel  is  a  corruption  of 
a  text  more  closely  parallel  to  that  of  Chronicles. 

18 


274  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

taken  by  Judaism  in  the  ministry  of  angels.  Zechariah, 
the  prophet  of  the  Restoration,  received  his  messages 
by  the  dispensation  of  angels ;  and  the  title  of  the 
last  canonical  1  prophet,  Malachi,  probably  means  "  the 
Angel."  The  change  from  Araunah  to  Oman  is  a  mere 
question  of  spelling.  Possibly  Oman  is  a  somewhat 
Hebraised  form  of  the  older  Jebusite  name  Araunah. 

In  ver.  22  the  reference  to  "  a  full  price  "  and  other 
changes  in  the  form  of  David's  words  are  probably  due 
to  the  influence  of  Gen.  xxiii.  9.  In  ver.  23  the 
chronicler's  familiarity  with  the  ritual  of  sacrifice  has 
led  him  to  insert  a  reference  to  a  meal  offering,  to 
accompany  the  burnt  offering.  Later  on  the  chronicler 
omits  the  somewhat  ambiguous  words  which  seem  to 
speak  of  Araunah  as  a  king.  He  would  naturally  avoid 
anything  like  a  recognition  of  the  royal  status  of  a 
Jebusite  prince. 

In  ver.  25  David  pays  much  more  dearly  for  Oman's 
threshing-floor  than  in  the  book  of  Samuel.  In  the 
latter  the  price  is  fifty  shekels  of  silver,  in  the  former 
six  hundred  shekels  of  gold.  Most  ingenious  attempts 
have  been  made  to  harmonise  the  two  statements. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  fifty  shekels  of  silver 
means  silver  to  the  value  of  fifty  shekels  of  gold  and 
paid  in  gold,  and  that  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold 
means  the  value  of  six  hundred  shekels  of  silver  paid 
in  gold.  A  more  lucid  but  equally  impossible  explana- 
tion is  that  David  paid  fifty  shekels  for  every  tribe,  six 
hundred  in  all.^  The  real  reason  for  the  change  is 
that  when  the  Temple  became  supremely  important  to 
the  Jews  the  small  price  of  fifty  shekels  for  the  site 
seemed  derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  the  sanctuary ;  six 

'  Noldius  and  R.  Salom.  apud  Bertheau  i.  1. 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  275 

hundred  shekels  of  gold  was  a  more  appropriate  sum. 
Abraham  had  paid  four  hundred  shekels  for  a  burying- 
place ;  and  a  site  for  the  Temple,  where  Jehovah  had 
chosen  to  put  His  name,  must  surely  have  cost  more. 
The  chronicler  followed  the  tradition  which  had  grown 
up  under  the  influence  of  this  feeling. 

Chaps,  xxi.  27-xxii.  i  are  an  addition.  According  to 
the  Levitical  law,  David  was  falling  into  grievous  sin 
in  sacrificing  anywhere  except  before  the  Mosaic  altar 
of  burnt  offering.  The  chronicler  therefore  states  the 
special  circumstances  that  palliated  this  offence  against 
the  exclusive  privileges  of  the  one  sanctuary  of  Jehovah. 
He  also  reminds  us  that  this  threshing-floor  became 
the  site  of  the  altar  of  burnt  offering  for  Solomon's 
temple.  Here  he  probably  follows  an  ancient  and 
historical  tradition ;  the  prominence  given  to  the 
threshing-floor  in  the  book  of  Samuel  indicates  the 
special  sanctity  of  the  site.  The  Temple  is  the  only 
sanctuary  whose  site  could  be  thus  connected  with  the 
last  days  of  David.  When  the  book  of  Samuel  was 
written,  the  facts  were  too  familiar  to  need  any  explana- 
tion ;  every  one  knew  that  the  Temple  stood  on  the 
site  of  Araunah's  threshing-floor.  The  chronicler, 
writing  centuries  later,  felt  it  necessary  to  make  an 
explicit  statement  on  the  subject. 

Having  thus  attempted  to  understand  how  our 
narrative  assumed  its  present  form,  we  will  now  tell 
the  chronicler's  story  of  these  incidents.  The  long 
reign  of  David  was  drawing  to  a  close.  Hitherto  he 
had  been  blessed  with  uninterrupted  prosperity  and 
success.  His  armies  had  been  victorious  over  all  the 
enemies  of  Israel,  the  borders  of  the  land  of  Jehovah 
had  been  extended,  David  himself  was  lodged  with 
princely  splendour,  and  the  services  of  the  Ark  were 


276  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

conducted  with   imposing  ritual  by  a  numerous  array 
of  priests  and  Levites.      King  and   people  alike  were 
at    the  zenith   of  their  glory.     In   worldly  prosperity 
and   careful   attention    to  religious   observances  David 
and   his   people  were    not    surpassed   by  Job    himself. 
Apparently    their    prosperity     provoked    the    envious 
malice  of  an  evil  and  mysterious  being,  who  appears 
only  here  in  Chronicles  :  Satan,  the  persecutor  of  Job. 
The  trial   to  which  he  subjected  the  loyalty  of  David 
was  more  subtle  and  suggestive  than  his  assault  upon 
Job.     He    harassed   Job  as    the    wind  dealt  with    the 
traveller  in  the  fable,  and  Job  only  wrapped  the  cloak 
of  his  faith  closer  about  him  ;  Satan  allowed  David  to 
remain  in  the  full  sunshine  of  prosperity,  and  seduced 
him    into    sin    by    fostering    his    pride    in    being    the 
powerful    and    victorious    prince    of  a    mighty  people. 
He    suggested    a    census.       David's    pride    would    be 
gratified   by  obtaining  accurate  information   as  to   the 
myriads    of  his    subjects.       Such    statistics    would    be 
useful  for  the   civil  organisation    of  Israel ;   the    king 
would   learn   where  and  how   to    recruit   his    army   or 
to  find  an   opportunity  to  impose  additional  taxation. 
The  temptation  appealed  alike  to  the  king,  the  soldier, 
and  the  statesman,  and  did  not  appeal  in  vain.     David 
at    once  instructed  Joab    and    the  princes    to  proceed 
with  the  enumeration  ;  Joab   demurred  and  protested  : 
the    census    would    be    a    cause    of  guilt    unto    Israel. 
But  not  even   the  great  influence  of  the  commander- 
in-chief  could  ■  turn   the  king    from  his  purpose.     Hi^ 
word  prevailed  against  Joab,  wherefore  Joab  departed, 
and  went  throughout  ail  Israel,  and  came  to  Jerusalem. 
This    brief   general    statement    indicates    a    long    and 
laborious    task,    simplified     and     facilitated    in    some 
measure  by  the  primitive  organisation  of  society  and 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  277 

by  rough  and  ready  methods  adopted  to  secure  the 
very  moderate  degree  of  accuracy  with  which  an 
ancient  Eastern  sovereign  would  be  contented.  When 
Xerxes  wished  to  ascertain  the  number  of  the  vast 
army  with  which  he  set  out  to  invade  Greece,  his 
officers  packed  ten  thousand  men  into  as  small  a  space 
as  possible  and  built  a  wall  round  them  ;  then  they 
turned  them  out,  and  packed  the  space  again  and 
again  ;  and  so  in  time  they  ascertained  how  many 
tens  of  thousands  of  men  there  were  in  the  army. 
Joab's  methods  would  be  different,  but  perhaps  not 
much  more  exact.  He  would  probably  learn  from 
the  **  heads  of  fathers'  houses  "  the  number  of  fighting 
men  in  each  family.  Where  the  hereditary  chiefs  of 
a  district  were  indifferent,  he  might  make  some  rough 
estimate  of  his  own.  We  may  be  sure  that  both  Joab 
and  the  local  authorities  would  be  careful  to  err  on  the 
safe  side.  The  king  was  anxious  to  learn  that  he 
possessed  a  large  number  of  subjects.  Probably  as 
the  officers  of  Xerxes  went  on  with  their  counting 
they  omitted  to  pack  the  measured  area  as  closely 
as  they  did  at  first ;  they  might  allow  eight  or  nine 
thousand  to  pass  for  ten  thousand.  Similarly  David's 
servants  would,  to  say  the  least,  be  anxious  not  to 
underestimate  the  number  of  his  subjects.  The  work 
apparently  went  on  smoothly ;  nothing  is  said  that 
indicates  any  popular  objection  or  resistance  to  the 
census  ;  the  process  of  enumeration  was  not  interrupted 
by  any  token  of  Divine  displeasure  against  the  "  cause 
of  guilt  unto  Israel."  Nevertheless  Joab's  misgivings 
were  not  set  at  rest ;  he  did  what  he  could  to  limit 
the  range  of  the  census  and  to  withdraw  at  least  two 
of  the  tribes  from  the  impending  outbreak  of  Divine 
wrath.      The   tribe   of  Levi   would    be   exempt   from 


278  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

taxation  and  the  obligation  of  military  service  ;  Joab 
could  omit  them  without  rendering  his  statistics  less 
useful  for  military  and  financial  purposes.  In  not 
including  the  Levites  in  the  general  census  of  Israel, 
Joab  was  following  the  precedent  set  by  the  numbering 
in  the  wilderness. 

Benjamin  was  probably  omitted  in  order  to  protect 
the  Holy  City,  the  chronicler  following  that  form  of  the 
ancient  tradition  which  assigned  Jerusalem  to  Benjamin.* 
Later  on,^  however,  the  chronicler  seems  to  imply  that 
these  two  tribes  left  to  the  last  were  not  numbered 
because  of  the  growing  dissatisfaction  of  Joab  with  his 
task  :  **  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah  began  to  number,  but 
finished  not."  But  these  different  reasons  for  the 
omission  of  Levi  and  Benjamin  do  not  mutually  exclude 
each  other.  Another  limitation  is  also  stated  in  the 
later  reference  :  "  David  took  not  the  number  of  them 
twenty  years  old  and  under,  because  Jehovah  had 
said  that  He  would  increase  Israel  like  to  the  stars  of 
heaven."  This  statement  and  explanation  seems  a 
little  superfluous  ;  the  census  was  specially  concerned 
with  the  fighting  men,  and  in  the  book  of  Numbers  only 
those  over  twenty  are  numbered.  But  we  have  seen 
elsewhere  that  the  chronicler  has  no  great  confidence 
in  the  intelligence  of  his  readers,  and  feels  bound  to 
state  definitely  matters  that  have  only  been  implied  and 
might  be  overlooked.  Here,  therefore,  he  calls  our 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  numbers  previously  given 
do  not  comprise  the  whole  male  population,  but  only 
the  adults. 


'  Josh,  xviii.  28  ;  Judges  i.  21,  as  against  Josh.  xv.  63 ;  Judges  i.  8, 
which  assign  the  city  to  Judah. 
^  I  Chron.  xxvii.  23,  24. 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  279 

At  last  the  census,  so  far  as  it  was  carried  out  at  all, 
was  finished,  and  the  results  were  presented  to  the 
king.  They  are  meagre  and  bald  compared  to  the 
volumes  of  tables  which  form  the  report  of  a  modern 
census.  Only  two  divisions  of  the  country  are  recog- 
nised :  "Judah"  and  "Israel,"  or  the  ten  tribes.  The 
total  is  given  for  each  :  eleven  hundred  thousand  for 
Israel,  four  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  for  Judah, 
in  all  fifteen  hundred  and  seventy  thousand.  Whatever 
details  may  have  been  given  to  the  king,  he  would  be 
chiefly  interested  in  the  grand  total.  Its  figures  would 
be  the  most  striking  symbol  of  the  extent  of  his 
authority  and  the  glory  of  his  kingdom. 

Perhaps  during  the  months  occupied  in  taking  the 
census  David  had  forgotten  the  ineffectual  protests  of 
Joab,  and  was  able  to  receive  his  report  without  any 
presentiment  of  coming  evil.  Even  if  his  mind  were  not 
altogether  at  ease,  all  misgivings  would  for  the  time 
be  forgotten.  He  probably  made  or  had  made  for  him 
some  rough  calculation  as  to  the  total  of  men,  women, 
and  children  that  would  correspond  to  the  vast  array 
of  fighting  men.  His  servants  would  not  reckon  the 
entire  population  at  less  than  nine  or  ten  millions.  His 
heart  would  be  uplifted  with  pride  as  he  contemplated 
the  statement  of  the  multitudes  that  were  the  subjects 
of  his  crown  and  prepared  to  fight  at  his  bidding.  The 
numbers  are  moderate  compared  with  the  vast  popula- 
tions and  enormous  armies  of  the  great  powers  of 
modern  Europe ;  they  were  far  surpassed  by  the  Roman 
empire  and  the  teeming  populations  of  the  valleys  of 
the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  and  the  Tigris ;  but  during  the 
Middle  Ages  it  was  not  often  possible  to  find  in  Western 
Europe  so  large  a  population  under  one  government  or 
so  numerous  an  army  under  one  banner.    The  resources 


28o  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

of  Cyrus  may  not  have  been  greater  when  he  started 
on  his  career  of  conquest ;  and  when  Xerxes  gathered 
into  one  motley  horde  the  warriors  of  half  the  known 
world,  their  total  was  only  about  double  the  number  of 
David's  robust  and  warlike  Israehtes.  There  was  no 
enterprise  that  was  likely  to  present  itself  to  his 
imagination  that  he  might  not  have  undertaken  with 
a  reasonable  probability  of  success.  He  must  have 
regretted  that  his  days  of  warfare  were  past,  and  that 
the  unwarlike  Solomon,  occupied  with  more  peaceful 
tasks,  would  allow  this  magnificent  instrument  of 
possible  conquests  to  rust  unused. 

But  the  king  was  not  long  left  in  undisturbed  enjoy- 
ment of  his  greatness.  In  the  very  moment  of  his 
exaltation,  some  sense  of  the  Divine  displeasure  fell 
upon  him.^  Mankind  has  learnt  by  a  long  and  sad 
experience  to  distrust  its  own  happiness.  The  brightest 
hours  have  come  to  possess  a  suggestion  of  possible 
catastrophe,  and  classic  story  loved  to  tell  of  the 
unavailing  efforts  of  fortunate  princes  to  avoid  their 
inevitable  downfall.  Polycrates  and  Croesus,  however, 
had  not  tempted  the  Divine  anger  by  ostentatious  pride ; 
David's  power  and  glory  had  made  him  neglectful  of 
the  reverent  homage  due  to  Jehovah,  and  he  had 
sinned  in  spite  of  the  express  warnings  of  his  most 
trusted  minister. 

When  the  revulsion  of  feeling  came,  it  was  complete. 
The  king  at  once  humbled  himself  under  the  mighty 
hand  of  God,  and  made  full  acknowledgment  of  his  sin 
and  folly  :  "  I  have  sinned  greatly  in  that  I  have  done 
this  thing :  but  now  put  away,  I  beseech  Thee,  the 
iniquity  of  Thy  servant,  for  I  have  done  very  foolishly." 

'  Ver.  7  is  apparently  a  general  anticipation  of  the  narrative  in 
vv,  9-15. 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  281 

The  narrative  continues  as  in  the  book  of  Samuel. 
Repentance  could  not  avert  punishment,  and  the 
punishment  struck  directly  at  David's  pride  of  power 
and  glory.  The  great  population  was  to  be  decimated 
either  by  famine,  war,  or  pestilence.  The  king  chose 
to  suffer  from  the  pestilence,  "  the  sword  of  Jehovah" : 
"Let  me  fall  now  into  the  hand  of  Jehovah,  for  very 
great  are  His  mercies ;  and  let  me  not  fall  into  the 
hand  of  man.  So  Jehovah  sent  a  pestilence  upon 
Israel,  and  there  fell  of  Israel  seventy  thousand  m^." 
Not  three  days  since  Joab  handed  in  his  report,  and 
alread}^  a  deduction  of  seventy  thousand  would  have  to 
be  made  from  its  total ;  and  still  the  pestilence  was  not 
checked,  for  "  God  sent  an  angel  unto  Jerusalem  to 
destroy  it."  If,  as  we  have  supposed,  Joab  had  with- 
held Jerusalem  from  the  census,  his  pious  caution  was 
now  rewarded:  "Jehovah  repented  Him  of  the  evil,  and 
said  to  the  destroying  angel.  It  is  enough ;  now  stay 
thine  hand."  At  the  very  last  moment  the  crowning 
catastrophe  was  averted.  In  the  Divine  counsels 
Jerusalem  was  already  delivered,  but  to  human  eyes 
its  fate  still  trembled  in  the  balance :  "  And  David 
lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  saw  the  angel  of  Jehovah  stand 
between  the  earth  and  the  heaven,  having  a  drawn 
sword  in  his  hand  stretched  out  over  Jerusalem."  So 
another  great  Israelite  soldier  lifted  up  his  eyes  beside 
Jericho  and  beheld  the  captain  of  the  host  of  Jehovah 
standing  over  against  him  with  his  sword  drawn  in  his 
hand.^  Then  the  sword  was  drawn  to  smite  the 
enemies  of  Israel,  but  now  it  was  turned  to  smite  Israel 
itself.  David  and  his  elders  fell  upon  their  faces  as 
Joshua  had  done  before  them  :    "  And  David  said  unto 

'  Josh.  V.  13. 


282  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

God,  Is  it  not  I  that  commanded  the  people  to  be 
numbered  ?  even  I  it  is  that  have  sinned  and  done  very 
wickedly ;  but  these  sheep,  what  have  they  done  ?  Let 
Thine  hand,  I  pray  Thee,  O  Jehovah  my  God,  be 
against  me  and  against  my  father's  house,  but  not 
against  Thy  people,  that  they  should  be  plagued." 

The  awful  presence  returned  no  answer  to  the  guilty 
king,  but  addressed  itself  to  the  prophet  Gad,  and 
commanded  htm  to  bid  David  go  up  and  build  an  altar 
to  Jehovah  in  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite. 
The  command  was  a  message  of  mercy.  Jehovah  per- 
mitted David  to  build  Him  an  altar ;  He  was  prepared 
to  accept  an  offering  at  his  hands.  The  king's  prayers 
were  heard,  and  Jerusalem  was  saved  from  the  pesti- 
lence. But  still  the  angel  stretched  out  his  drawn 
sword  over  Jerusalem ;  he  waited  till  the  reconciliation 
of  Jehovah  with  His  people  should  have  been  duly 
ratified  by  solemn  sacrifices.  At  the  bidding  of  the 
prophet,  David  went  up  to  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman 
the  Jebusite,  Sorrow  and  reassurance,  hope  and  fear, 
contended  for  the  mastery.  No  sacrifice  could  call  back 
to  life  the  seventy  thousand  victims  whom  the  pestilence 
had  already  destroyed,  and  yet  the  horror  of  its  ravages 
was  almost  forgotten  in  relief  at  the  deliverance  of 
Jerusalem  from  the  calamity  that  had  all  but  overtaken 
it.  Even  now  the  uplifted  sword  might  be  only  held 
back  for  a  time ;  Satan  might  yet  bring  about  some 
heedless  and  sinful  act,  and  the  respite  might  end  not 
in  pardon,  but  in  the  execution  of  God's  purpose  of 
vengeance.  Saul  had  been  condemned  because  he 
sacrificed  too  soon ;  now  perhaps  delay  would  be  fatal. 
Uzzah  had  been  smitten  because  he  touched  the  Ark ; 
till  the  sacrifice  was  actually  offered  who  could  tell 
whether    some    thoughtless    blunder    would    not    again 


iChron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  283 

provoke  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  ?  Under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances David  would  not  have  dared  to  sacrifice 
anywhere  except  upon  the  altar  of  burnt  offering  before 
the  tabernacle  at  Gibeon ;  he  would  have  used  the 
ministry  of  priests  and  Levites.  But  ritual  is  helpless 
in  great  emergencies.  The  angel  of  Jehovah  with  the 
drawn  sword  seemed  to  bar  the  way  to  Gibeon,  as  once 
before  he  had  barred  Balaam's  progress  when  he  came 
to  curse  Israel.  In  his  supreme  need  David  builds  his 
own  altar  and  offers  his  own  sacrifices  ;  he  receives  the 
Divine  answer  without  the,  intervention  this  time  of 
either  priest  or  prophet.  By  God's  most  merciful  and 
mysterious  grace,  David's  guilt  and  punishment,  his 
repentance  and  pardon,  broke  down  all  barriers  between 
himself  and  God. 

But,  as  he  went  up  to  the  threshing-floor,  he  was 
still  troubled  and  anxious.  The  burden  was  partly  lifted 
from  his  heart,  but  he  still  craved  full  assurance  of 
pardon.  The  menacing  attitude  of  the  destroying  angel 
seemed  to  hold  out  little  promise  of  mercy  and  forgive- 
ness, and  yet  the  command  to  sacrifice  would  be  cruel 
mockery  if  Jehovah  did  not  intend  to  be  gracious  to 
His  people  and  His  anointed 

At  the  threshing-floor  Oman  and  his  four  sons  were 
threshing  wheat,  apparently  unmoved  by  the  prospect 
of  the  threatened  pestilence.  In  Egypt  the  Israelites 
were  protected  from  the  plagues  with  which  their 
oppressors  were  punished.  Possibly  now  the  situation 
was  reversed,  and  the  remnant  of  the  Ganaanites  in 
Palestine  were  not  afflicted  by  the  pestilence  that  fell 
upon  Israel.  But  Oman  turned  back  and  saw  the 
angel ;  he  may  not  have  known  the  grim  mission  with 
which  the  Lord's  messenger  had  been  entrusted,  but 
the  aspect  of  the  destro3'er,  his  threatening  attitude,  and 


284  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

the  lurid  radiance  of  his  unsheathed  and  outstretched 
sword  must  have  seemed  unmistakable  tokens  of 
coming  calamity.  Whatever  might  be  threatened  for 
the  future,  the  actual  appearance  of  this  supernatural 
visitant  was  enough  to  unnerve  the  stoutest  heart ;  and 
Oman's  four  sons  hid  themselves. 

Before  long,  however,  Oman's  terrors  were  some- 
what reheved  by  the  approach  of  less  formidable  visitors. 
The  king  and  his  followers  had  ventured  to  .show 
themselves  openly,  in  spite  of  the  destroying  angel ; 
and  they  had  ventured  with  impunity.  Oman  went 
forth  and  bowed  himself  to  David  with  his  face  to  the 
ground.  In  ancient  days  the  father  of  the  faithful, 
oppressed  by  the  burden  of  his  bereavement,  went 
to  the  Hittites  to  purchase  a  burying-place  for  his  wife. 
Now  the  last  of  the  Patriarchs,  mourning  for  the 
sufferings  of  his  people,  came  by  Divine  command  to 
the  Jebusite  to  purchase  the  ground  on  which  to  offer 
sacrifices,  that  the  plague  might  be  stayed  from  the 
people.  The  form  of  bargaining  was  somewhat  similar 
in  both  cases.  We  are  told  that  bargains  are  concluded 
in  much  the  same  fashion  to-day.  Abraham  had  paid 
four  hundred  shekels  of  silver  for  the  field  of  Ephron 
in  Machpelah,  "with  the  cave  which  was  therein,  and  all 
the  trees  that  were  in  the  field."  The  price  of  Oman's 
threshing-floor  was  in  proportion  to  the  dignity  and 
wealth  of  the  royal  purchaser  and  the  sacred  purpose 
for  which  it  was  designed.  The  fortunate  Jebusite 
received  no  less  than  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold. 

David  built  his  altar,  and  offered  up  his  sacrifices 
and  prayers  to  Jehovah.  Then,  in  answer  to  David's 
prayers,  as  later  in  answer  to  Solomon's,  fire  fell  from 
heaven  upon  the  altar  of  burnt  offering,  and  all  this 
while  the  sword  of  Jehovah  flamed  across  the  heavens 


1  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  285 

above  Jerusalem,  and  the  destroying  angel  remained 
passive,  but  to  all  appearances  unappeased.  But  as 
the  fire  of  God  fell  from  heaven,  Jehovah  gave  yet 
another  final  and  convincing  token  that  He  would  no 
longer  execute  judgment  against  His  people.  In  spite 
of  all  that  had  happened  to  reassure  them,  the  spectators 
must  have  been  thrilled  with  alarm  when  they  saw  that 
the  angel  of  Jehovah  no  longer  remained  stationary, 
and  that  his  flaming  sword  was  moving  through  the 
heavens.  Their  renewed  terror  was  only  for  a  moment : 
*'  the  angel  put  up  his  sword  again  into  the  sheath 
thereof,"  and  the  people  breathed  more  freely  when 
they  saw  the  instrument  of  Jehovah's  wrath  vanish 
out  of  their  sight. 

The  use  of  Machpelah  as  a  patriarchal  burying-place 
led  to  the  establishment  of  a  sanctuary  at  Hebron, 
which  continued  to  be  the  seat  of  a  debased  and 
degenerate  worship  even  after  the  coming  of  Christ. 
It  is  even  now  a  Mohammedan  holy  place.  But  on 
the  threshing-floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite  there  was 
to  arise  a  more  worthy  memorial  of  the  mercy  and 
judgment  of  Jehovah.  Without  the  aid  of  priestly 
oracle  or  prophetic  utterance,  David  was  led  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  to  discern  the  significance  of  the 
command  to  perform  an  irregular  sacrifice  in  a  hitherto 
unconsecrated  place.  When  the  sword  of  the  destroy- 
ing angel  interposed  between  David  and  the  Mosaic 
tabernacle  and  altar  of  Gibeon,  the  way  was  not 
merely  barred  against  the  king  and  his  court  on  one 
exceptional  occasion.  The  incidents  of  this  crisis 
symbolised  the  cutting  ofi"  for  ever  of  the  worship  of 
Israel  from  its  ancient  shrine  and  the  transference  of 
the  Divinely  appointed  centre  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
to  the  threshing-floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite,   that  is 


286  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

to  say  to  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  David  and  the  capital 
of  Judah. 

The  lessons  of  this  incident,  so  far  as  the  chronicler 
has  simply  borrowed  from  his  authority,  belong  to  the 
exposition  of  the  book  of  Samuel.  1  he  main  features 
peculiar  to  Chronicles  are  the  introduction  of  the  evil 
angel  Satan,  together  with  the  greater  prominence 
given  to  the  angel  of  Jehovah,  and  the  express  state- 
ment that  the  scene  of  David's  sacrifice  became  the  site 
of  Solomon's  altar  of  burnt  offering. 

The  stress  laid  upon  angelic  agency  is  characteristic 
of  later  Jewish  literature,  and  is  especially  marked  in 
Zechariah  and  Daniel.  It  was  no  doubt  partly  due  to 
the  influence  of  the  Persian  religion,  but  it  was  also  a 
development  from  the  primitive  faith  of  Israel,  and  the 
development  was  favoured  by  the  course  of  Jewish 
history.  The  Captivity  and  the  Restoration,  with  the 
events  that  preceded  and  accompanied  these  revolutions, 
enlarged  the  Jewish  experience  of  nature  and  man. 
The  captives  in  Babylon  and  the  fugitives  in  Egypt 
saw  that  the  world  was  larger  than  they  had  imagined. 
In  Josiah's  reign  the  Scythians  from  the  far  North 
swept  over  Western  Asia,  and  the  Medes  and  Persians 
broke  in  upon  Assyria  and  Chaldaea  from  the  remote 
East.  The  prophets  claimed  Scythians,  Medes,  and 
Persians  as  the  instruments  of  Jehovah.  The  Jewish 
appreciation  of  the  majesty  of  Jehovah,  the  Maker  and 
Ruler  of  the  world,  increased  as  they  learnt  more  of 
the  world  He  had  made  and  ruled ;  but  the  invasion 
of  a  remote  and  unknown  people  impressed  them  with 
the  idea  of  infinite  dominion  and  unlimited  resources, 
beyond  all  knowledge  and  experience.  The  course  of 
Israelite  history  between  David  and  Ezra  involved  as 
great  a  widening  of  man's  ideas    of  the  universe    as 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  287 

the  discovery  of  America  or  the  estabhshment  of 
Copernican  astronomy.  A  Scythian  invasion  was 
scarcely  less  portentous  to  the  Jews  than  the  descent  of 
an  irresistible  army  from  the  planet  Jupiter  would  be 
to  the  civilised  nations  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
Jew  began  to  shrink  from  intimate  and  familiar  fellow- 
ship with  so  mighty  and  mysterious  a  Deity.  He  felt 
the  need  of  a  mediator,  some  less  exalted  being,  to 
stand  between  himself  and  God.  For  the  ordinary 
purposes  of  everyday  life. the  Temple,  with  its  ritual 
and  priesthood,  provided  a  mediation ;  but  for  unfore- 
seen contingencies  and  exceptional  crises  the  Jews 
welcomed  the  belief  that  a  ministry  of  angels  provided 
a  safe  means  of  intercourse  between  himself  and  the 
Almighty.  Many  men  have  come  to  feel  to-day  that 
the  discoveries  of  science  have  made  the  universe  so 
infinite  and  marvellous  that  its  Maker  and  Governor  is 
exalted  beyond  human  approach.  The  infinite  spaces 
of  the  constellations  seem  to  intervene  between  the 
earth  and  the  presence-chamber  of  God ;  its  doors  are 
guarded  against  prayer  and  faith  by  inexorable  laws  ; 
the  awful  Being,  who  dwells  within,  has  become 
"  unmeasured  in  height,  undistinguished  into  form." 
Intellect  and  imagination  alike  fail  to  combine  the 
manifold  and  terrible  attributes  of  the  Author  of  nature 
into  the  picture  of  a  loving  Father.  It  is  no  new 
experience,  and  the  present  century  faces  the  situation 
very  much  as  did  the  chronicler's  contemporaries. 
Some  are  happy  enough  to  rest  in  the  mediation  of 
ritual  priests ;  others  are  content  to  recognise,  as  of 
old,  powers  and  forces,  not  now,  however,  personal 
messengers  of  Jehovah,  but  the  physical  agencies  of 
**  that  which  makes  for  righteousness."  Christ  came 
to   supersede  the   Mosaic    ritual    and    the    ministry  of 


288  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

angels ;  He  will  come  again  to  bring  those  who  are  far 
off  into  renewed  fellowship  with  His  Father  and  theirs. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  recognition  of  Satan,  the  evil 
angel,  marks  an  equally  great  change  from  the  theo- 
logy of  the  book  of  Samuel.  The  primitive  Israelite 
religion  had  not  yet  reached  the  stage  at  which  the 
origin  and  existence  of  moral  evil  became  an  urgent 
problem  of  religious  thought ;  men  had  not  yet 
realised  the  logical  consequences  of  the  doctrine  of 
Divine  unity  and  omnipotence.  Not  only  was  material 
evil  traced  to  Jehovah  as  the  expression  of  His  just 
wrath  against  sin,  but  "  morally  pernicious  acts  were 
quite  frankly  ascribed  to  the  direct  agency  of  God."  ^ 
God  hardens  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  and  the  Canaanites ; 
Saul  is  instigated  by  an  evil  spirit  from  Jehovah  to 
make  an  attempt  upon  the  life  of  David ;  Jehovah 
moves  David  to  number  Israel ;  He  sends  forth  a 
lying  spirit  that  Aliab's  prophets  may  prophesy  falsely 
and  entice  him  to  his  ruin.^  The  Divine  origin  of 
moral  evil  implied  in  these  passages  is  definitely  stated 
in  the  book  of  Proverbs :  "  Jehovah  hath  made  every- 
thing for  its  own  end,  yea  even  the  wicked  for  the  day 
of  evil "  ;  in  Lamentations,  "  Out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Most  High  Cometh  there  not  evil  and  good  ? "  and  in 
the  book  of  Isaiah,  "  I  form  the  light,  and  create 
darkness ;  I  make  peace,  and  create  evil ;  I  am  Jehovah, 
that  doeth  all  these  things."  ^ 

The  ultra-Calvinism,  so  to  speak,  of  earlier  Israelite 
religion  was  only  possible  so  long  as  its  full  significance 
was    not  understood.     An    emphatic    assertion    of  the 

'  Schultz,  Old  Testament  Theology,  ii.  270. 

^  Exod.  iv.   21 ;  Josh.  xi.  20;    i  Sam.  xix.  9,   10 ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.   I ; 
I  Kings  xxii.  20-23. 
'  Prov.  xvi.  4;  Lam.  iii,  38;  Isa.  xlv.  7. 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  289 

absolute  sovereignty  of  the  one  God  was  necessary  as 
a  protest  against  polytheism,  and  later  on  against 
dualism  as  well.  For  practical  purposes  men's  faith 
needed  to  be  protected  by  the  assurance  that  God 
worked  out  His  purposes  in  and  through  human 
wickedness.  The  earlier  attitude  of  the  Old  Testament 
towards  moral  evil  had  a  distinct  practical  and  theo- 
logical value. 

But  the  conscience  of  Israel  could  not  always  rest 
in  this  view  of  the  origin  of  evil.  As  the  standard  of 
morality  was  raised,  and  its  obligations  were  more 
fully  insisted  on,  as  men  shrank  from  causing  evil 
themselves  and  from  the  use  of  deceit  and  violence, 
they  hesitated  more  and  more  to  ascribe  to  Jehovah 
what  they  sought  to  avoid  themselves.  And  yet  no 
easy  way  of  escape  presented  itself.  The  facts  re- 
mained ;  the  temptation  to  do  evil  was  part  of  the 
punishment  of  the  sinner  and  of  the  discipline  of  the 
saint.  It  was  impossible  to  deny  that  sin  had  its  place 
in  God's  government  of  the  world  ;  and  in  view  of 
men's  growing  reverence  and  moral  sensitiveness,  it 
was  becoming  almost  equally  impossible  to  admit  with- 
out qualification  or  explanation  that  God  was  Himself 
the  Author  of  evil.  Jewish  thought  found  itself  face 
to  face  with  the  dilemma  against  which  the  human 
intellect  vainly  beats  its  wings,  like  a  bird  against  the 
bars  of  its  cage. 

However,  even  in  the  older  literature  there  were 
suggestions,  not  indeed  of  a  solution  of  the  problem, 
but  of  a  less  objectionable  way  of  stating  facts.  In 
Eden  the  temptation  to  evil  comes  from  the  serpent ; 
and,  as  the  story  is  told,  the  serpent  is  quite  inde- 
pendent of  God  ;  and  the  question  of  any  Divine  authority 
or   permission    for  its  action  is  not  in  any  way  dealt 

19 


290  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


with.  It  is  true  that  the  serpent  was  one  of  the  beasts 
of  the  field  which  the  Lord  God  had  made,  but  the  narrator 
probably  did  not  consider  the  question  of  any  Divine 
responsibihty  for  its  wickedness.  Again,  when  Ahab 
is  enticed  to  his  ruin,  Jehovah  does  not  act  directly,  but 
through  the  twofold  agency  first  of  the  lying  spirit 
and  then  of  the  deluded  prophets.  This  tendency  to 
dissociate  God  from  any  direct  agency  of  evil  is  further 
illustrated  in  Job  and  Zechariah.  When  Job  is  to  be 
tried  and  tempted,  the  actual  agent  is  the  malevolent 
Satan ;  and  the  same  evil  spirit  stands  forth  to  accuse 
the  high-priest  Joshua^  as  the  representative  of  Israel. 
The  development  of  the  idea  of  angelic  agency  afforded 
new  resources  for  the  reverent  exposition  of  the  facts 
connected  with  the  origin  and  existence  of  moral  evil. 
If  a  sense  of  Divine  majesty  led  to  a  recognition  of  the 
angel  of  Jehovah  as  the  Mediator  of  revelation,  the 
reverence  for  Divine  holiness  imperatively  demanded 
that  the  immediate  causation  of  evil  should  also  be 
associated  with  angelic  agency.  This  agent  of  evil 
receives  the  name  of  Satan,  the  adversary  of  man,  the 
advocatus  diaholi  who  seeks  to  discredit  man  before  God, 
the  impeacher  of  Job's  loyalty  and  of  Joshua's  purity. 
Yet  Jehovah  does  not  resign  any  of  His  omnipotence. 
In  Job  Satan  cannot  act  without  God's  permission  ;  he 
is  strictly  limited  by  Divine  control  :  all  that  he  does 
only  illustrates  Divine  wisdom  and  effects  the  Divine 
purpose.  In  Zechariah  there  is  no  refutation  of  the 
charge  brought  by  Satan  ;  its  truth  is  virtually  admitted  : 
nevertheless  Satan  is  rebuked  for  his  attempt  to  hinder 
God's  gracious  purposes  towards  His  people.  Thus 
later  Jewish  thought  left  the  ultimate  Divine  sovereignty 

'  Zech,  iii.  I. 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  291 


untouched,  but  attributed  the  actual  and  direct  causation 
of  moral  evil  to  malign  spiritual  agency. 

Trained  in  this  school,  the  chronicler  must  have  read 
with  something  of  a  shock  that  Jehovah  moved  David 
to  commit  the  sin  of  numbering  Israel.  He  was  familiar 
with  the  idea  that  in  such  matters  Jehovah  used  or  per- 
mitted the  activity  of  Satan.  Accordingly  he  carefully 
avoids  reproducing  any  words  from  the  book  of  Samuel 
that  imply  a  direct  Divine  temptation  of  David,  and 
ascribes  it  to  the  well-known  and  crafty  animosity  of 
Satan  against  Israel.  In  so  doing,  he  has  gone  some- 
what further  than  his  predecessors  :  he  is  not  careful 
to  emphasise  any  Divine  permission  given  to  Satan  or 
Divine  control  exercised  over  him.  The  subsequent 
narrative  implies  an  overruling  for  good,  and  the 
chronicler  may  have  expected  his  readers  to  under- 
stand that  Satan  here  stood  in  the  same  relation  to 
God  as  in  Job  and  Zechariah ;  but  the  abrupt  and 
isolated  introduction  of  Satan  to  bring  about  the  fall  of 
David  invests  the  arch-enemy  with  a  new  and  more 
independent  dignity. 

The  progress  of  the  Jews  in  moral  and  spiritual  life 
had  given  them  a  keener  appreciation  both  of  good 
and  evil,  and  of  the  contrast  and  opposition  between 
them.  Over  against  the  pictures  of  the  good  kings, 
and  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  the  generation  of  the 
chronicler  set  the  complementary  pictures  of  the  wicked 
kings  and  the  evil  angel.  They  had  a  higher  ideal 
to  strive  after,  a  clearer  vision  of  the  kingdom  of 
God ;  they  also  saw  more  vividly  the  depths  of  Satan 
and  recoiled  with  horror  from  the  abyss  revealed  to 
them. 

Our  text  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
tendency    to    emphasise    the    recognition    of    Satan  as 


292  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

the  instrument  of  evil  and  to  ignore  the  question  of 
the  relation  of  God  to  the  origin  of  evil.  Possibly  no 
more  practical  attitude  can  be  assumed  towards  this 
difficult  question.  The  absolute  relation  of  evil  to  the 
Divine  sovereignty  is  one  of  the  problems  of  the  ultimate 
nature  of  God  and  man.  Its  discussion  may  throw 
many  sidelights  upon  other  subjects,  and  will  always 
serve  the  edifying  and  necessary  purpose  of  teaching 
men  the  limitations  of  their  intellectual  powers.  Other- 
wise theologians  have  found  such  controversies  barren, 
and  the  average  Christian  has  not  been  able  to  derive 
from  them  any  suitable  nourishment  for  his  spiritual 
life.  Higher  intelligences  than  our  own,  we  have  been 
told,— 

" reasoned  high 

Of  providence,  foreknowledge,  will,  and  fate, 
Fixed  fate,  free-will,  foreknowledge  absolute. 
And  found  no  end.  In  wandering  mazes  lost." 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  supremely  important  that 
the  believer  should  clearly  understand  the  reahty  of 
temptation  as  an  evil  spiritual  force  opposed  to  Divine 
grace.  Sometimes  this  power  of  Satan  will  show  itself 
as  "  the  alien  law  in  his  members,  warring  against  the 
law  of  his  mind  and  bringing  him  into  captivity  under 
the  law  of  sin,  which  is  in  his  members."  He  will  be 
conscious  that  "  he  is  drawn  away  by  his  own  lust  and 
enticed."  But  sometimes  temptation  will  rather  come 
from  the  outside.  A  man  will  find  his  ''  adversary " 
in  circumstances,  in  evil  companions,  in  "  the  sight  of 
means  to  do  ill  deeds "  ;  the  serpent  whispers  in  his 
ear,  and  Satan  moves  him  to  wrong-doing.  Let  him 
not  imagine  for  a  moment  that  he  is  delivered  over 
to  the  powers  of  evil ;  let  him  realise  clearly  that  with 
every  temptation  God  provides  a  way  of  escape.     Every 


I  Chron.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  293 

man  knows  in  his  own  conscience  that  speculative  diffi- 
culties can  neither  destroy  the  sanctity  of  moral  obliga- 
tion nor  hinder  the  operation  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Indeed,  the  chronicler  is  at  one  with  the  books  of 
Job  and  Zechariah  in  showing  us  the  malice  of  Satan 
overruled  for  man's  good  and  God's  glory.  In  Job  the 
affliction  of  the  Patriarch  only  serves  to  bring  out  his 
faith  and  devotion,  and  is  eventually  rewarded  by 
renewed  and  increased  prosperity ;  in  Zechariah  the 
protest  of  Satan  against  God's  gracious  purposes  for 
Israel  is  made  the  occasion  of  a  singular  display  of 
God's  favour  towards  His  people  and  their  priest.  In 
Chronicles  the  malicious  intervention  of  Satan  leads  up 
to  the  building  of  the  Temple. 

Long  ago  Jehovah  had  promised  to  choose  a  place 
in  Israel  wherein  to  set  His  name ;  but,  as  the  chronicler 
read  in  the  history  of  his  nation,  the  Israelites  dwelt 
for  centuries  in  Palestine,  and  Jehovah  made  no 
sign  :  the  ark  of  God  still  dwelt  in  curtains.  Those 
who  still  looked  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  ancient 
promise  must  often  have  wondered  by  what  prophetic 
utterance  or  vision  Jehovah  would  make  known  His 
choice.  Bethel  had  been  consecrated  by  the  vision  of 
Jacob,  when  he  was  a  solitary  fugitive  from  Esau,  paying 
the  penalty  of  his  selfish  craft ;  but  the  lessons  of  past 
history  are  not  often  applied  practically,  and  probably  no 
one  ever  expected  that  Jehovah's  choice  of  the  site  for 
His  one  temple  would  be  made  known  to  His  chosen 
king,  the  first  true  Messiah  of  Israel,  in  a  moment  of 
even  deeper  humiliation  than  Jacob's,  or  that  the  Divine 
announcement  would  be  the  climax  of  a  series  of  events 
initiated  by  the  successful  machinations  of  Satan. 

Yet  herein  lies  one  of  the  main  lessons  of  the  in- 
cident.    Satan's  machinations  are  not  really  successful ; 


294  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


he  often  attains  his  immediate  object,  but  is  always 
defeated  in  the  end.  He  estranges  David  from  Jehovah 
for  a  moment,  but  eventually  Jehovah  and  His  people 
are  drawn  into  closer  union,  and  their  reconciliation  is 
sealed  by  the  long-expected  choice  of  a  site  for  the 
Temple.  Jehovah  is  like  a  great  general,  who  will 
sometimes  allow  the  enemy  to  obtain  a  temporary 
advantage,  in  order  to  overwhelm  him  in  some  crush- 
ing defeat.  The  eternal  purpose  of  God  moves  onward, 
unresting  and  unhasting ;  its  quiet  and  irresistible  per- 
sistence finds  special  opportunity  in  the  hindrances 
that  seem  sometimes  to  check  its  progress.  In  David's 
case  a  few  months  showed  the  whole  process  complete  : 
the  malice  of  the  Enemy  ;  the  sin  and  punishment  of  his 
unhappy  victim ;  the  Divine  relenting  and  its  solemn 
symbol  in  the  newly  consecrated  altar.  But  with  the 
Lord  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand 
years  as  one  day ;  and  this  brief  episode  in  the  history 
of  a  small  people  is  a  symbol  alike  of  the  eternal  dealings 
of  God  in  His  government  of  the  universe  and  of  His 
personal  care  for  the  individual  soul.  How  short-lived 
has  been  the  victory  of  sin  in  many  souls !  Sin  is 
triumphant ;  the  tempter  seems  to  have  it  all  his  own 
way,  but  his  first  successes  only  lead  to  his  final 
rout ;  the  devil  is  cast  out  by  the  Divine  exorcism  of 
chastisement  and  forgiveness ;  and  he  learns  that  his 
efforts  have  been  made  to  subserve  the  training  in  the 
Christian  warfare  of  such  warriors  as  Augustine  and 
John  Bunyan.  Or,  to  take  a  case  more  parallel  to 
that  of  David,  Satan  catches  the  saint  unawares,  and 
entraps  him  into  sin ;  and,  behold,  while  the  evil  one 
is  in  the  first  flush  of  triumph,  his  victim  is  back 
again  at  the  throne  of  grace  in  an  agony  Of  contrition, 
and  before  long  the  repentant   sinner  is  bowed  down 


I  Chi-on.  xxi.-xxii.  I.]  SATAN  295 

into  a  new  humility  at  the  undeserved  graciousness  of 
the  Divine  pardon  :  the  chains  of  love  are  riveted  with 
a  fuller  constraint  about  his  soul,  and  he  is  tenfold  more 
the  child  of  God  than  before. 

And  in  the  larger  life  of  the  Church  and  the  world 
Satan's  triumphs  are  still  the  heralds  of  his  utter 
defeat.  He  prompted  the  Jews  to  slay  Stephen  ;  and 
the  Church  were  scattered  abroad,  and  went  about 
preaching  the  word ;  and  the  young  man  at  whose  feet 
the  witnesses  laid  down  their  garments  became  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  He  tricked  the  reluctant 
Diocletian  into  ordering  the  greatest  of  the  persecutions, 
and  in  a  few  years  Christianity  was  an  established 
religion  in  the  empire.  In  more  secular  matters  the 
apparent  triumph  of  an  evil  principle  is  usually  the 
signal  for  its  downfall.  In  America  the  slave-holders 
of  the  Southern  States  rode  rough-shod  over  the 
Northerners  for  more  than  a  generation,  and  then  came 
the  Civil  War. 

These  are  not  isolated  instances,  and  they  serve  to 
warn  us  against  undue  depression  and  despondency 
when  for  a  season  God  seems  to  refrain  from  any 
intervention  with  some  of  the  evils  of  the  world.  We 
are  apt  to  ask  in  our  impatience, — 

"  Is  there  not  wrong  too  bitter  for  atoning  ? 

What  are  these  desperate  and  hideous  years  ? 
Hast  Thou  not  heard  Thy  whole  creation  groaning, 
Sighs  of  the  bondsman,  and  a  woman's  tears  ?  " 

The  works  of  Satan  are  as  earthly  as  they  are  devilish  ; 
they  belong  to  the  world,  which  passeth  away,  with  the 
lust  thereof :  but  the  gracious  providence  of  God  has  all 
infinity  and  all  eternity  to  work  in.  Where  to-day  we 
can   see    nothing    but    the    destroying  angel    with    his 


296  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

flaming    sword,    future    generations    shall    behold    the 
temple  of  the  Lord. 

David's    sin,    and    penitence,    and    pardon    were    no 
inappropriate  preludes    to  this  consecration  of   Mount 
Moriah.       The    Temple  was    not  built  for  the  use    of 
blameless  saints,  but  the  worship  of  ordinary  men  and 
women.     Israel  through  countless  generations  was  to 
bring  the  burden  of  its  sins  to  the  altar  of  Jehovah. 
The  sacred  splendour  of  Solomon's  dedication  festival 
duly  represented  the  national  dignity  of  Israel  and  the 
majesty  of  the  God  of  Jacob  ;  but  the  self-abandonment 
of  David's   repentance,   the    deliverance    of  Jerusalem 
from    impending    pestilence,     the    Divine    pardon    of 
presumptuous    sin,    constituted    a    still    more    solemn 
inauguration  of  the  place   where  Jehovah  had  chosen 
to   set  His  name.     The  sinner,   seeking  the  assurance 
of  pardon  in   atoning   sacrifice,   would  remember  how 
David  had  then  received  pardon  for  his  sin,  and  hov/ 
the  acceptance  of  his  offerings  had  been  the  signal  for 
the  disappearance  of  the  destroying  angel.     So  in  the 
Middle    Ages    penitents  founded    churches    to    expiate 
their  sins.    Such  sanctuaries  would  symbolise  to  sinners 
in  after-times  the  possibiHty  of  forgiveness ;  they  were 
monuments  of  God's  mercy  as  well  as  of  the  founders' 
penitence.     To-day  churches,  both  in  fabric  and  fellow- 
ship, have  been  made  sacred  for  individual  worshippers 
because  in  them  the  Spirit  of  God  has  moved  them  to 
repentance  and  bestowed  upon   them  the  assurance  of 
pardon.     Moreover,  this  solemn  experience  consecrates 
for  God  His  most  acceptable  temples  in  the  souls  of 
those  that  love  Him. 

One  other  lesson  is  suggested  by  the  happy  issues  of 
Satan's  malign  interference  in  the  history  of  Israel  as 
understood  by  the  chronicler.     The  inauguration  of  the 


1  Chron.  xxi -xxii.  I.]  SATAN  297 

new  altar  was  a  direct  breach  of  the  Levitical  law,  and 
involved  the  superseding  of  the  altar  and  tabernacle  that 
had  hitherto  been  the  only  legitimate  sanctuary  for  the 
worship  of  Jehovah.  Thus  the  new  order  had  its  origin 
in  the  violation  of  existing  ordinances  and  the  neglect 
of  an  ancient  sanctuary.  Its  early  histor}^  constituted 
a  declaration  of  the  transient  character  of  sanctuaries 
and  systems  of  ritual.  God  would  not  eternally  hmit 
Himself  to  any  building,  or  Flis  grace  to  the  observance 
of  any  forms  of  external  ritual.  Long  before  the 
chronicler's  time  Jeremiah  had  proclaimed  this  lesson 
in  the  ears  of  Judah  :  ''  Go  ye  now  unto  My  place 
which  was  in  Shiloh,  where  I  caused  My  name  to  dwell 
at  the  first,  and  -see  what  I  did  to  it  for  the  wickedness 
of  My  people  Israel.  ...  I  will  do  unto  the  house 
which  is  called  by  My  name,  wherein  ye  trust,  and  unto 
the  place  which  I  gave  to  you  and  your  fathers,  as  I 
have  done  to  Shiloh.  ...  I  will  make  this  house  Hke 
Shiloh,  and  will  make  this  city  a  curse  to  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth."  ^  In  the  Tabernacle  all  things  were  made 
according  to  the  pattern  that  was  showed  to  Moses  in 
the  mount ;  for  the  Temple  David  was  made  to  under- 
stand the  pattern  of  all  things  "  in  writing  from  the 
hand  of  Jehovah."  ^  If  the  Tabernacle  could  be  set 
aside  for  the  Temple,  the  Temple  might  in  its  turn  give 
place  to  the  universal  Church.  If  God  allowed  David 
in  his  great  need  to  ignore  the  one  legitimate  altar  of 
the  Tabernacle  and  to  sacrifice  without  its  officials,  the 
faithful  Israelite  might  be  encouraged  to  believe  that 
in  extreme  emergency  Jehovah  would  accept  his  offering 
without  regard  to  place  or  priest. 

The  principles  here  involved  are  of  very  wide  applica- 


'  Jer.  vii.  12-14;  xxvi.  6.  '  i  Chron.  xxviii.  19. 


298  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

tion.  Every  ecclesiastical  system  was  at  first  a  new 
departure.  Even  if  its  highest  claims  be  admitted, 
they  simply  assert  that  within  historic  times  God  set 
aside  some  other  system  previously  enjoying  the 
sanction  of  His  authority,  and  substituted  for  it  a  more 
excellent  way.  The  Temple  succeeded  the  Taber- 
nacle ;  the  synagogue  appropriated  in  a  sense  part  of 
the  authority  of  the  Temple  ;  the  Church  superseded 
both  synagogue  and  Temple.  God's  action  in  authoris- 
ing each  new  departure  warrants  the  expectation  that 
He  may  yet  sanction  new  ecclesiastical  systems  ;  the 
authority  which  is  sufficient  to  establish  is  also  adequate 
to  supersede.  When  the  Anglican  Church  broke 
away  from  the  unity  of  Western  Christendom  by 
denying  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  and  refusing  to 
recognise  the  orders  of  other  Protestant  Churches,  she 
set  an  example  of  dissidence  that  was  naturally  followed 
by  the  Presbyterians  and  Independents.  The  revolt 
of  the  Reformers  against  the  theology  of  their  day  in 
a  measure  justifies  those  who  have  repudiated  the 
dogmatic  systems  of  the  Reformed  Churches.  In  these 
and  in  other  ways  to  claim  freedom  from  authority, 
even  in  order  to  set  up  a  new  authority  of  one's  own, 
involves  in  principle  at  least  the  concession  to  others  of 
a  similar  liberty  of  revolt  against  one's  self 


CHAPTER  XI 

CONCLUSION 

IN  dealing  with  the  various  subjects  of  this  book,  we 
have  reserved  for  separate  treatment  their  relation 
to  the  Messianic  hopes  of  the  Jews  and  to  the  realisa- 
tion of  these  hopes  in  Christ.  The  Messianic  teaching 
of  Chronicles  is  only  complete  when  we  collect  and 
combine  the  noblest  traits  in  its  pictures  of  David  and 
Solomon,  of  prophets,  priests,  and  kings.  We  cannot 
ascribe  to  Chronicles  any  great  influence  on  the  subse- 
quent development  of  the  Jewish  idea  of  the  Messiah. 
In  the  first  place,  the  chronicler  does  not  point  out  the 
bearing  which  his  treatment  of  history  has  upon  the 
expectation  of  a  future  deliverer.  He  has  no  formal 
intention  of  describing  the  character  and  office  of  the 
Messiah  ;  he  merely  wishes  to  write  a  history  so  as  to 
emphasise  the  facts  which  most  forcibly  illustrated  the 
sacred  mission  of  Israel.  And,  in  the  second  place, 
Chronicles  never  exercised  any  great  influence  over 
Jewish  thought,  and  never  attained  to  anything  like  the 
popularity  of  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings.  Many 
circumstances  conspired  to  prevent  the  Temple  ministry 
from  obtaining  an  undivided  authority  over  later 
Judaism.  The  growth  of  their  power  was  broken  in 
upon  by  the  persecutions  of  Antiochus  and  the  wars 
of  the  Maccabees.     The  ministry  of  the  Temple  under 

299 


300  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


the  Maccabaean  high-priests  must  have  been  very 
different  from  that  to  which  the  chronicler  belonged. 
Even  if  the  priests  and  Levites  still  exercised  any 
influence  upon  theology,  they  were  overshadowed  by 
the  growing  importance  of  the  rabbinical  schools  of 
Babylon  and  Palestine.  Moreover,  the  rise  of  Hellen- 
istic Judaism  and  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
into  Greek  introduced  another  new  and  potent  factor 
into  the  development  of  the  Jewish  religion.  Of  all  the 
varied  forces  that  were  at  work  few  or  none  tended  to 
assign  any  special  authority  to  Chronicles,  nor  has  it 
left  any  very  marked  traces  on  later  literature.  Josephus 
indeed  uses  it  for  his  history,  but  the  New  Testament 
is  under  very  slight  obligation  to  our  author. 

But  Chronicles  reveals  to  us  the  position  and  ten- 
dencies of  Jewish  thought  in  the  interval  between 
Ezra  and  the  Maccabees.  The  Messiah  was  expected 
to  renew  the  ancient  glories  of  the  chosen  people, 
"  to  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel "  ;  we  learn  from 
Chronicles  what  sort  of  a  kingdom  He  was  to  restore. 
We  see  the  features  of  the  ancient  monarchy  that 
were  dear  to  the  memories  of  the  Jews,  the  characters 
of  the  prophets,  priests,  and  kings  whom  they  delighted 
to  honour.  As  their  ideas  of  the  past  shaped  and 
coloured  their  hopes  for  the  future,  their  conception  of 
what  was  noblest  and  best  in  the  history  of  the  monarchy 
was  at  the  same  time  the  measure  of  what  they  expected 
in  the  Messiah.  However  little  influence  Chronicles 
may  have  exerted  as  a  piece  of  literature,  the  tendencies 
of  which  it  is  a  monument  continued  to  leaven  the 
thought  of  Israel,  and  are  everywhere  manifest  in  the 
New  Testament. 

We  have  to  bear  in  mind  that  Messiah,  ".Anointed," 
was   the  familiar  title   of  the   Israelite  kings ;    its  use 


CONCLUSION  301 


for  the  priests  was  late  and  secondary.  The  use  of  a 
royal  title  to  denote  the  future  Saviour  of  the  nation 
shows  us  that  He  was  primarily  conceived  of  as  an 
ideal  king ;  and  apart  from  any  formal  enunciation  of 
this  conception,  the  title  itself  would  exercise  a  con- 
trolling influence  upon  the  development  of  the  Messianic 
idea.  Accordingly  in  the  New  Testament  we  find  that 
the  Jews  were  looking  for  a  king  ;  and  Jesus  calls  His 
new  society  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

But  for  the  chronicler  the  Messiah,  the  Anointed  of 

Jehovah,  is  no  mere  secular  prince.      We  have   seen 

how   the  chronicler   tends  to  include    religious    duties 

and    prerogatives    among    the    functions    of  the    king. 

David    and    Solomon  and    their   pious    successors   are 

supreme    alike    in    Church  and    state    as    the    earthly 

representatives  of  Jehovah,     The  actual  titles  of  priest 

and    prophet    are    not  bestowed  upon    the    kings,   but 

they  are  virtually  priests  in  their  care  for  and  control 

over  the  buildmgs  and  ritual  of  the  Temple,  and  they 

are  prophets  when,  like  David  and  Solomon,  they   hold 

direct  fellowship  with  Jehovah  and  announce  His  will 

to  the  people.     Moreover,  David,  as  "  the  Psalmist  of 

Israel,"    had    become    the    inspired    interpreter   of  the 

religious    experience  of  the  Jews.      The  ancient  idea 

of  the  king  as  the  victorious  conqueror  was  gradually 

giving  place  to  a  more  spiritual  conception  of  his  office  ; 

the  Messiah  was  becoming  more  and  more  a  definitely 

religious    personage.      Thus   Chronicles    prepared    the 

way  for  the  acceptance  of  Christ  as  a  spiritual  Deliverer, 

who  was  not  only  King,  but  also  Priest  and  Prophet. 

In    fact,  we    may    claim    the  chronicler's  own  implied 

authority  for  including  in   the  picture  of  the   coming 

King  the  characteristics  he  ascribes  to  the  priest  and 

the    prophet.       Thus    the    Messiah    of    Chronicles    is 


302  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

distinctly  more  spiritual  and  less  secular  than  the 
Messiah  of  popular  Jewish  enthusiasm  in  our  Lorci's 
own  time.  Whereas  in  the  chronicler's  time  the 
tendency  was  to  spiritualise  the  idea  of  the  king,  the 
tenure  of  the  office  of  high-priest  by  the  Maccabaean 
princes  tended  rather  to  secularise  the  priesthood  and 
to  restore  older  and  cruder  conceptions  of  the  Messianic 
King. 

Let  us  see  how  the  chronicler's  history  of  the  house 
of  David  illustrates  the  person  and  work  of  the  Son 
of  David,  who  came  to  restore  the  ancient  monarchy 
in  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  which  it  was  the  symbol. 
The  Gospels  introduce  our  Lord  very  much  as  the 
chronicler  introduces  David :  they  give  us  His  genea- 
logy, and  pass  almost  immediately  to  His  public  ministry. 
Of  His  training  and  preparation  for  that  ministry^,  of 
the  chain  of  earthly  circumstances  that  determined  the 
time  and  method  of  His  entry  upon  the  career  of  a 
public  Teacher,  they. tell  us  next  to  nothing.  We  are 
only  allowed  one  brief  glimpse  of  the  life  of  the  holy 
Child ;  our  attention  is  mainly  directed  to  the  royal 
Saviour  when  He  has  entered  upon  His  kingdom ; 
and  His  Divine  nature  finds  expression  in  mature 
manhood,  when  none  of  the  limitations  of  childhood 
detract  from  the  fulness  of  His  redeeming  service  and 
sacrifice. 

The  authority  of  Christ  rests  on  the  same  basis  as 
that  of  the  ancient  kings  :  it  is  at  once  human  and 
Divine.  In  Christ  indeed  this  twofold  authority  is  in 
one  sense  peculiar  to  Himself;  but  in  the  practical 
application  of  His  authority  to  the  hearts  and  con- 
sciences of  men  He  treads  in  the  footsteps  of  His 
ancestors.  His  kingdom  rests  on  His  own  Divine 
commission  and  on  the  consent  of  His  subjects.     God 


CONCLUSION  303 


has  given  Him  the  right  to  rule,  but  He  will  not  reign 
in  any  heart  till  He  receives  its  free  submission.  And 
still,  as  of  old,  Christ,  thus  chosen  and  well  beloved  of 
God  and  man,  is  King  over  the  whole  life  of  His  people, 
and  claims  to  rule  over  them  in  their  homes,  their 
business,  their  recreation,  their  social  and  political  life, 
as  well  as  in  their  public  and  private  worship.  If 
David  and  his  pious  successors  were  devoted  to  Jehovah 
and  His  temple,  if  they  protected  their  people  from 
foreign  foes  and  wisely  administered  the  affairs  of 
Israel,  Christ  sets  us  the  example  of  perfect  obedience 
to  the  Father ;  He  gives  us  deliverance  and  victory 
in  our  warfare  against  principalities  and  powers,  against 
the  world  rulers  of  this  darkness,  and  against  the 
spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness  in  heavenly  places  ;  He 
administers  in  peace  and  holiness  the  inner  kingdom 
of  the  believing  heart.  All  that  was  foreshadowed 
both  by  David  and  Solomon  is  realised  in  Christ.  The 
warlike  David  is  a  symbol  of  the  holy  warfare  of  Christ 
and  the  Church  militant,  of  Him  who  came  not  to  send 
peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword  ;  Solomon  is  the  symbol 
of  Christ,  the  Prince  of  peace  in  the  Church  triumphant. 
The  tranquillity  and  splendour  of  the  reign  of  the  first 
son  of  David  are  types  of  the  serene  glory  of  Christ's 
kingdom  as  it  is  partly  realised  in  the  hearts  of  His 
children  and  as  it  will  be  fully  realised  in  heaven ;  the 
God-given  wisdom  of  Solomon  prefigures  the  perfect 
knowledge  and  understanding  of  Him  who  is  Himself 
the  Word  and  Wisdom  of  God. 

The  shadows  that  darken  the  history  of  the  kings 
of  Judah  and  even  the  life  of  David  himself  remind 
us  that  the  Messiah  moved  upon  a  far  higher  moral 
and  spiritual  level  than  the  monarchs  whose  royal 
dignity   was    a   type    of  His    own.      Like  David,   He 


304  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

was  exposed  to  the  machinations  of  Satan  ;  but,  unlike 
David,  He  successfully  resisted  the  tempter.  He  was 
in  "all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without 
sin," 

The  great  priestly  work  of  David  and  Solomon  was 
the  building  of  the  Temple  and  the  organisation  of 
its  ritual  and  ministry.  By  this  work  the  kings  made 
splendid  provision  for  fellowship  between  Jehovah  and 
His  people,  and  for  the  system  of  sacrifices,  whereby 
a  sinful  nation  expressed  their  penitence  and  received 
the  assurance  of  forgiveness.  This  has  been  the 
supreme  work  of  Christ :  through  Him  we  have  access 
to  God  ;  we  enter  into  the  holy  place,  into  the  Divine 
presence,  by  a  new  and  living  way,  that  is  to  say  His 
flesh  ;  He  has  brought  us  into  the  perpetual  fellowship 
of  the  Spirit.  And  whereas  Solomon  could  only  build 
one  temple,' to  which  the  believer  paid  occasional  visits 
and  obtained  the  sense  of  Divine  fellowship  through 
the  ministry  of  the  priests,  Christ  makes  every  faithful 
heart  the.  temple  of  sacred  service,  and  He  has  offered 
for  us  the  one  sacrifice,  and  provides  a  universal 
atonement. 

In  His  priesthood,  as  in  His  sacrifice,  He  represents 
us  before  God,  and  this  representation  is  not  merely 
technical  and  symbolic :  in  Him  we  find  ourselves 
brought  near  to  God,  and  our  desires  and  aspirations 
are  presented  as  petitions  at  the  throne  of  the  heavenly 
grace.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  in  His  love  and 
righteousness  He  represents  God  to  us,  and  brings  the 
assurance  of  our  acceptance. 

Other  minor  features  of  the  office  and  rights  of  the 
priests  and  Levites  find  a  parallel  in  Christ.  He  also 
is  our  Teacher  and  our  Judge  ;  to  Him  and  to  His 
service  all  worldly  wealth  may  be  consecrated.     Christ 


CONCLUSION  30s 


is  in  all  things  the  spiritual  Heir  of  the  house  of  Aaron 
as  well  as  of  the  house  of  David ;  because  He  is 
a  Priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  He, 
like  Melchizedek,  is  also  King  of  Salem  ;  of  His  kingdom 
and  of  His  priesthood  there  shall  be  no  end.  But  while 
Christ  is  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  what  David  was 
to  the  Israelite  monarchy,  while  in  the  different  aspects 
of  His  work  He  is  at  once  Temple,  Priest,  and  Sacrifice, 
yet  in  the  ministry  of  His  earthly  life  He  is  above 
all  a  Prophet,  the  supreme  successor  of  Elijah  and 
Isaiah.  It  was  only  in  a  figure  that  He  sat  upon 
David's  throne ;  it  formed  no  part  of  His  plan  to 
exercise  earthly  dominion  :  His  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world.  He  did  not  belong  to  the  priestly  tribe,  and 
performed  none  of  the  external  acts  of  priestly  ritual ; 
He  did  not  base  His  authority  upon  any  genealogy 
with  regard  to  priesthood,  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
says,  *'  It  is  evident  that  our  Lord  hath  sprung  out 
of  Judah,  as  to  which  tribe  Moses  spake  nothing 
concerning  priests."  ^  His  royal  birth  had  its  symbolic 
value,  but  He  never  asked  men  to  believe  in  Him 
because  of  His  human  descent  from  David.  He  relied 
as  little  on  the  authority  of  office  as  on  that  of  birth. 
Officially  He  was  neither  scribe  nor  rabbi.  Like  the 
prophets,  His  only  authority  was  His  Divine  com- 
mission and  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  in  the  hearts 
of  His  hearers.  The  people  recognised  Him  as  a 
prophet ;  they  took  Him  for  Elijah  or  one  of  the 
prophets  ;  He  spoke  of  Himself  as  a  prophet  :  "  Not 
without  honour,  save  in  his  own  country."  We 
have  seen  that,  while  the  priests  ministered  to  the 
regular  and  recurring  needs  of  the  people,  the  Divine 

'  Heb.  vii.  14. 

20 


3o6  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

guidance  in  special  emergencies  and  the  Divine 
authority  for  new  departures  were  given  by  the 
prophets.  By  a  prophet  Jehovah  brought  Israel  out 
of  Egypt/  and  Christ  as  a  Prophet  led  His  people  out 
of  the  bondage  of  the  Law  into  the  liberty  of  the 
Gospel.  By  Him  the  Divine  authority  was  given  for 
the  greatest  religious  revolution  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  And  still  He  is  the  Prophet  of  the  Church. 
He  does  not  merely  provide  for  the  religious  wants 
that  are  common  to  every  race  and  to  every  generation  : 
as  the  circumstances  of  His  Church  alter,  and  the 
believer  is  confronted  with  fresh  difficulties  and  called 
upon  to  undertake  new  tasks,  Christ  reveals  to  His 
people  the  purpose  and  counsel  of  God.  Even  the 
record  of  His  earthly  teaching  is  constantly  found  to 
have  anticipated  the  needs  of  our  own  time ;  His  Spirit 
enables  us  to  discover  fresh  applications  of  the  truths 
He  taught :  and  through  Him  special  light  is  sought 
and  granted  for  the  guidance  of  individuals  and  of  the 
Church  in  their  need. 

But  in  Chronicles  special  stress  is  laid  on  the  darker 
aspects  of  the  work  of  the  prophets.  They  constantly 
appear  to  administer  rebukes  and  announce  coming 
punishment.  Both  Christ  and  His  apostles  were 
compelled  to  assume  the  same  attitude  towards  Israel. 
Like  Jeremiah,  their  hearts  sank  under  the  burden 
of  so  stern  a  duty.  Christ  denounced  the  Pharisees, 
and  wept  over  the  city  that  knew  not  the  things 
belonging  to  its  peace ;  He  declared  the  impending 
ruin  of  the  Temple  and  the  Holy  City.  Even  so  His 
Spirit  still  rebukes  sin,  and  warns  the  impenitent  of 
inevitable  punishment. 

'  Hos.  xii.  13. 


CONCLUSION  307 


We  have  seen  also  in  Chronicles  that  no  stress  was 
laid  on  any  material  rewards  for  the  prophets,  and  that 
their  fidelity  was  sometimes  recompensed  with  persecu- 
tion and  death.  Like  Christ  Himself,  they  had  nothing 
to  do  with  priestly  wealth  and  splendour.  The  silence 
of  the  chronicler  to  the  income  of  these  prophets  makes 
them  fitting  types  of  Him  who  had  not  where  to  lay 
His  head.  A  discussion  of  the  income  of  Christ  would 
almost  savour  of  blasphemy  ;  we  should  shrink  from 
inquiring  how  far  **  those  who  derived  spiritual  profit 
from  His  teaching  gave  Him  substantial  proofs  of  their 
appreciation  of  His  ministry."  Christ's  recompense  at 
the  hands  of  the  world  and  of  the  Jewish  Church 
was  that  which  former  prophets  had  received.  Like 
Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada,  He  was  persecuted 
and  slain  ;  He  delivered  a  prophet's  message,  and  died 
a  prophet's  death. 

But,  besides  the  chronicler's  treatment  of  the  offices 
of  prophet,  priest,  and  king,  there  was  another  feature  of 
his  teaching  which  would  prepare  the  way  for  a  clear 
comprehension  of  the  person  and  work  of  Christ.  We 
have  noticed  how  the  growing  sense  of  the  power  and 
majesty  of  Jehovah  seemed  to  set  Him  at  a  distance 
from  man,  and  how  the  Jews  welcomed  the  idea  of  the 
mediation  of  an  angelic  ministry.  And  yet  the  angels 
were  too  vague  and  unfamiliar,  too  little  known,  and 
too  imperfectly  understood  to  satisfy  men's  longing  for 
some  means  of  fellowship  between  themselves  and  the 
remote  majesty  of  an  almighty  God  ;  while  still  their 
ministry  served  to  maintain  faith  in  the  possibility 
of  mediation,  and  to  quicken  the  yearning  after  some 
better  way  of  access  to  Jehovah.  When  Christ  came 
He  found  this  faith  and  yearning  waiting  to  be  satis- 
fied ;  they  opened  a  door  through  which  Christ  found 


3o8  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

His  way  into  hearts  prepared  to  receive  Him.  In  Him 
the  famihar  human  figures  of  priest  and  prophet  were 
exalted  into  the  supernatural  dignity  of  the  Angel  of 
Jehovah.  Men  had  long  strained  their  eyes  in  vain  to 
a  far-off  heaven  ;  and,  behold,  a  human  voice  recalled 
their  gaze  to  the  earth  ;  and  they  turned  and  found  God 
beside  them,  kindly  and  accessible,  a  Man  with  men. 
They  realised  the  promise  that  a  modern  poet  puts  into 
David's  mouth  : — 

" .  .  .  O  Saul,  it  shall  be 
A  face  like  my  face  that  receives  thee;  a  Man  like  to  me 
Thou  shalt  love  and  be  loved  by  for  ever ;   a  Hand  like  this  hand 
Shall  throw  open    the  gates  of  new  life  to   thee  !  See    the   Christ 
stand  ! " 

We  have  thus  seen  how  the  figures  of  the  chronicler's 
history — prophet,  priest,  king,  and  angel — were  types 
and  foreshadowings  of  Christ.  We  may  sum  up  this 
aspect  of  his  teaching  by  a  quotation  from  a  modern 
exponent  of  Old  Testament  theology  :— 

"  Moses  the  prophet  is  the  first  type  of  the  Mediator. 
By  his  side  stands  Aaron  the  priest,  who  connects  the 
people  with  God,  and  consecrates  it.  .  .  .  But  from 
the  time  of  David  both  these  figures  pale  in  the 
imagination  of  the  people  before  the  picture  of  the 
Davidic  king.  His  is  the  figure  which  appears  the 
most  indispensable  condition  of  all  true  happiness  for 
Israel.  David  is  the  third  and  by  far  the  most  perfect 
type  of  the  Consummator."  ^ 

This  recurrence  to  the  king  as  the  most  perfect  type 
of  the  Redeemer  suggests  a  last  application  of  the 
Messianic  teaching  of  the  chronicler.     In  discussing  his 

'  Schultz,  Old  Testament  Theology,  ii.  353. 


CONCLUSION  309 


pictures  of  the  kings,  we  have  ventured  to  give  them  a 
meaning  adapted  to  modern  poHtical  hfe.  In  Israel  the 
king  stood  for  the  state.  When  a  community  combined 
for  common  action  to  erect  a  temple  or  repel  an  invader, 
the  united  force  was  controlled  and  directed  b}^  the 
king;  he  was  the  symbol  of  national  union  and 
co-operation.  To-day,  when  a  community  acts  as  a 
whole,  its  agent  and  instrument  is  the  civil  government ; 
the  state  is  the  people  organised  for  the  common  good, 
subordinating  individual  ends  to  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  nation.  Where  the  Old  Testament  has  "  king," 
its  modern  equivalent  may  read  the  state  or  the  civil 
government, — nay,  even  for  special  purposes  the  munici- 
pality, the  county  council,  or  the  school  board.  Shall 
we  obtain  any  helpful  or  even  intelligible  result  if  we 
apply  this  method  of  translation  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  Messiah  ?  Externally  at  any  rate  the  translation 
bears  a  startling  likeness  to  what  has  been  regarded 
as  a  specially  modern  development.  "  Israel  looked 
for  salvation  from  the  king,"  would  read,  "  Modern 
society  should  seek  salvation  from  the  state."  As- 
suredly there  are  many  prophets  who  have  taken  up 
this  burden  without  any  idea  that  their  new  heresy 
was  only  a  reproduction  of  old  and  forgotten  orthodoxy. 
But  the  history  of  the  growth  of  the  Messianic  idea 
supplies  a  correction  to  the  primitive  baldness  of  this 
principle  of  salvation  by  the  state.  In  time  the  picture 
of  the  Messianic  king  came  to  include  the  attributes  of 
the  prophet  and  the  priest.  If  we  care  to  complete  our 
modern  application,  we  must  affirm  that  the  state  can 
never  be  a  saviour  till  it  becomes  sensitive  to  Divine 
influences  and  conscious  of  a  Divine  presence. 

When  we  see  how  the  Messianic  hope  of  Israel  was 
purified  and  ennobled    to  receive  a  fulfilment  glorious 


310  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

beyond  its  wildest  dreams,  we  are  encouraged  to 
believe  that  the  fantastic  visions  of  the  Socialist  may  be 
divinely  guided  to  some  reasonable  ideal  and  may 
prepare  the  way  for  some  further  manifestation  of  the 
grace  of  God.  But  the  Messianic  state,  like  the  Messiah, 
may  be  called  upon  to  suffer  and  die  for  the  salvation 
of  the  world,  that  it  may  receive  a  better  resurrection. 


BOOK    IV 
THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  HISTORY 


3" 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  LAST  PRAYER   OF  DAVID 
I  Chron.  xxix.  10-19. 

IN  order  to  do  justice  to  the  chronicler's  method  of 
presenting  us  with  a  number  of  very  similar 
illustrations  of  the  same  principle,  we  have  in  the 
previous  book  grouped  much  of  his  material  under  a 
few  leading  subjects.  There  remains  the  general 
thread  of  the  history,  which  is,  of  course,  very  much 
the  same  in  Chronicles  as  in  the  book  of  Kings,  and 
need  not  be  dwelt  on  at  any  length.  At  the  same  time 
some  brief  survey  is  necessary  for  the  sake  of  com- 
pleteness and  in  order  to  bring  out  the  different 
complexion  given  to  the  history  by  the  chronicler's 
alterations  and  omissions.  Moreover,  there  are  a 
number  of  minor  points  that  are  most  conveniently 
dealt  with  in  the  course  of  a  running  exposition. 

The  special  importance  attached  by  the  chronicler 
to  David  and  Solomon  has  enabled  us  to  treat  their 
reigns  at  length  in  discussing  his  picture  of  the  ideal 
king ;  and  similarly  the  reign  of  Ahaz  has  served  as  an 
illustration  of  the  character  and  fortunes  of  the  wicked 
kings.  We  therefore  take  up  the  history  at  the 
accession  of  Rehoboam,  and  shall  simply  indicate  ver}^ 
briefly  the  connection  of  the  reign  of  Ahaz  with  what 

313 


314  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

precedes  and  follows.  But  before  passing  on  to 
Rehoboam  we  must  consider  "The  Last  Prayer  of 
David,"  a  devotional  paragraph  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
The  detailed  exposition  of  this  passage  would  have 
been  out  of  proportion  in  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
chronicler's  account  of  the  character  and  reign  of 
David,  and  would  have  had  no  special  bearing  on  the 
subject  of  the  ideal  king.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
"  Prayer  "  states  some  of  the  leading  principles  which 
govern  the  chronicler  in  his  interpretation  of  the 
history  of  Israel ;  and  its  exposition  forms  a  suitable 
introduction  to  the  present  division  of  our  subject. 

The  occasion  of  this  prayer  was  the  great  closing 
scene  of  David's  life,  which  we  have  already  described. 
The  prayer  is  a  thanksgiving  for  the  assurance  David 
had  received  that  the  accomplishment  of  the  great 
purpose  of  his  life,  the  erection  of  a  temple  to  Jehovah, 
was  virtually  secured.  He  had  been  permitted  to 
collect  the  materials  for  the  building,  he  had  received 
the  plans  of  the  Temple  from  Jehovah,  and  had  placed 
them  in  the  willing  hands  of  his  successor.  The 
princes  and  the  people  had  caught  his  own  enthusiasm 
and  lavishly  supplemented  the  bountiful  provision 
already  made  for  the  future  work.  Solomon  had  been 
accepted  as  king  by  popular  acclamation.  Every 
possible  preparation  had  been  made  that  could  be  made, 
and  the  aged  king  poured  out  his  heart  in  praise  to  God 
for  His  grace  and  favour. 

The  prayer  falls  naturally  into  four  subdivisions : 
vv.  10-13  are  a  kind  of  doxology  in  honour  of  Jehovah; 
in  vv.  14-16  David  acknowledges  that  Israel  is  entirely 
dependent  upon  Jehovah  for  the  means  of  rendering 
Him  acceptable  service;  in  ver.  17  he  claims  that  he 
and  his  people  have  offered  willingly  unto  Jehovah  ;  and 


xxix.  lo-ig.]      THE  LAST  PRAYER  OF  DAVID  315 

in  vv.  18  and  19  he  prays  that  Solomon  and  the 
people  may  build  the  Temple  and  abide  in  the  Law. 

In  the  doxology  God  is  addressed  as  '*  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  Israel,  our  Father,"  and  similarly  in  ver.  18 
as  "Jehovah,  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of 
Israel."  For  the  chronicler  the  accession  of  David  is 
the  starting-point  of  Israehte  history  and  religion,  but 
here,  as  in  the  genealogies,  he  links  his  narrative  to 
that  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  reminds  his  readers  that 
the  crowning  dispensation  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
in  the  Temple  rested  on  the  earlier  revelations  to 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel. 

We  are  at  once  struck  by  the  divergence  from  the 
usual  formula  :  "  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob."  Moreover, 
when  God  is  referred  to  as  the  God  of  the  Patriarch 
personally,  the  usual  phrase  is  "  the  God  of  Jacob." 
The  formula,  "  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel," 
occurs  again  in  Chronicles  in  the  account  of  Hezekiah's 
reformation  ;  it  only  occurs  elsewhere  in  the  history  of 
Elijah  in  the  book  of  Kings. -^  The  chronicler  avoids 
the  use  of  the  name  "  Jacob,  "  and  for  the  most  part  calls 
the  Patriarch  ''  Israel."  **  Jacob  "  only  occurs  in  two 
poetic  quotations,  where  its  omission  was  almost  im- 
possible, because  in  each  case  "Israel"  is  used  in  the 
parallel  clause.^  This  choice  of  names  is  an  application  of 
the  same  principle  that  led  to  the  omission  of  the  discred- 
itable incidents  in  the  history  of  David  and  Solomon. 
Jacob  was  the  supplanter.  The  name  suggested  the 
unbrotherly  craft  of  the  Patriarch.  It  was  not  desirable 
that  the  Jews  should  be  encouraged  to  think  of  Jehovah 
as  the  God  of  a  grasping  and  deceitful  man.  Jehovah 
was    the    God   of  the    Patriarch's    nobler    nature   and 

'  2  Chron.  xxx.  6  ;  i  Kings  xviii.  36. 
'  I  Chron.  xvi.  13,  17  ;  Gen.  xxxii.  28. 


3i6  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

higher    hfe,  the  God  of  Israel,  who  strove    with    God 
and  prevailed. 

In  the  doxology  that  follows  the  resources  of  lan- 
guage are  almost  exhausted  in  the  attempt  to  set  forth 
adequately  "the  greatness,  and  the  power,  and  the 
glory,  and  the  victory,  and  the  majesty,  .  .  .  the  riches 
and  honour,  .  .  .  the  power  and  might,"  of  Jehovah. 
These  verses  read  like  an  expansion  of  the  simple 
Christian  doxology,  "Thine  is  the  kingdom,  the  power, 
and  the  glory,"  but  in  all  probability  the  latter  is  an 
abbreviation  from  our  text.  In  both  there  is  the  same 
recognition  of  the  ruling  omnipotence  of  God  ;  but  the 
chronicler,  having  in  mind  the  glory  and  power  of 
David  and  his  magnificent  offerings  for  the  building 
of  the  Temple,  is  specially  careful  to  intimate  that 
Jehovah  is  the  source  of  all  worldly  greatness  :  "  Both 
riches  and  honour  come  of  Thee,  .  .  .  and  in  Thy  hand 
it  is  to  make  great  and  to  give  strength  unto  all." 

The  complementary  truth,  the  entire  dependence  of 
Israel  on  Jehovah,  is  dealt  with  in  the  next  verses. 
David  has  learnt  humility  from  the  tragic  consequences 
of  his  fatal  census  ;  his  heart  is  no  longer  uplifted  with 
pride  at  the  wealth  and  glory  of  his  kingdom  ;  he  claims 
no  credit  for  the  spontaneous  impulse  of  generosity 
that  prompted  his  munificence.  Everything  is  traced 
back  to  Jehovah  :  "  All  things  come  of  Thee,  and  of 
Thine  own  have  we  given  Thee."  Before,  when  David 
contemplated  the  vast  population  of  Israel  and  the  great 
array  of  his  warriors,  the  sense  of  God's  displeasure 
fell  upon  him ;  now,  when  the  riches  and  honour  of 
his  kingdom  were  displayed  before  him,  he  may  have 
felt  the  chastening  influence  of  his  former  experience. 
A  touch  of  melancholy  darkened  his  spirit  for  a  moment ; 
standing  upon  the  brink  of  the  dim,  mysterious  Sheol, 


xxix.  10-19.]     THE  LAST  PRAYER   OF  DAVID  317 

he  found  small  comfort  in  barbaric  abundance  of  timber 
and  stone,  jewels,  talents,  and  darics  ;  he  saw  the  empti- 
ness of  all  earthly  splendour.  Like  Abraham  before 
the  children-  of  Heth,  he  stood  before  Jehovah  a 
stranger  and  a  sojourner.^  Bildad  the  Shuhite  had 
urged  Job  to  submit  himself  to  the  teaching  of  a  vene- 
rable orthodoxy,  because  "we  are  of  yesterday  and 
know  nothing,  because  our  days  upon  earth  are  a 
shadow."^  The  same  thought  made  David  feel  his 
insignificance,  in  spite  of  his  wealth  and  royal  dominion  : 
"  Our  days  on  the  earth  are  as  a  shadow,  and  there 
is  no  abiding." 

He  turns  from  these  sombre  thoughts  to  the  con- 
soling reflection  that  in  all  his  preparations  he  has 
been  the  instrument  of  a  Divine  purpose,  and  has 
served  Jehovah  willingly.  To-day  he  can  approach 
God  with  a  clear  conscience  :  "I  know  also,  my  God, 
that  Thou  triest  the  heart  and  hast  pleasure  in  upright- 
ness. As  for  me,  in  the  uprightness  of  my  heart  I 
have  willingly  offered  all  these  things."  He  rejoiced, 
moreover,  that  the  people  had  offered  willingly.  The 
chronicler  anticipates  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul  that 
"the  Lord  loveth  a  cheerful  giver."  David  gives  of 
his  abundance  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  the  widow 
gave  her  mite.  The  two  narratives  are  mutually  sup- 
plementary. It  is  possible  to  apply  the  story  of  the 
widow's  mite  so  as  to  suggest  that  God  values  our 
offerings  in  inverse  proportion  to  their  amount.  We 
are  reminded  by  the  willing  munificence  of  David  that 
the  rich  may  give  of  his  abundance  as  simply  and 
humbly  and  as  acceptably  as  the  poor  man  gives  of 
his  poverty. 

'  Gen.  xxiii.  4;  cf.  Psalms  xxxix.  13,  cxix.  19. 
-  Job  viii.  9. 


3i8  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

But  however  grateful  David  might  be  for  the  pious 
and  generous  spirit  by  which  his  people  were  now 
possessed,  he  did  not  forget  that  they  could  only 
abide  in  that  spirit  by  the  continued  enjoyment  of 
Divine  help  and  grace.  His  thanksgiving  concludes 
with  prayer.  Spiritual  depression  is  apt  to  follow  very 
speedily  in  the  train  of  spiritual  exaltation ;  days  of 
joy  and  light  are  granted  to  us  that  we  may  make 
provision  for  future  necessity. 

David  does  not  merely  ask  that  Israel  may  be  kept 
in  external  obedience  and  devotion  :  his  prayer  goes 
deeper.  He  knows  that  out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues 
of  life,  and  he  prays  that  the  heart  of  Solomon  and  the 
thoughts  of  the  heart  of  the  people  may  be  kept  right 
with  God.  Unless  the  fountain  of  life  were  pure,  it 
would  be  useless  to  cleanse  the  stream.  David's 
special  desire  is  that  the  Temple  may  be  built,  but 
this  desire  is  only  the  expression  of  his  loyalty  to  the 
Law.  Without  the  Temple  the  commandments,  and 
testimonies,  and  statutes  of  the  Law  could,  not  be  rightly 
observed.  But  he  does  not  ask  that  the  people  may 
be  constrained  to  build  the  Temple  and  keeping  the 
Law  in  order  that  their  hearts  may  be  made  perfect ; 
their  hearts  are  to  be  made  perfect  that  they  may  keep 
the  Law. 

Henceforward  throughout  his  history  the  chronicler's 
criterion  of  a  perfect  heart,  a  righteous  life,  in  king 
and  people,  is  their  attitude  towards  the  Law  and  the 
Temple.  Because  their  ordinances  and  worship  formed 
the  accepted  standard  of  religion  and  morality,  through 
which  men's  goodness  would  naturally  express  them- 
selves. Similarly  only  under  a  supreme  sense  of  duty 
to  God  and  man  may  the  Christian  willingly  violate 
the  established  canons  of  religious  and  social  life. 


xxix.  lo-ig.]     THE  LAST  PRAYER   OF  DAVID  319 

We  may  conclude  by  noticing  a  curious  feature  in 
the  wording  of  David's  prayer.  In  the  nineteenth,  as  in 
the  first,  verse  of  this  chapter  the  Temple,  according  to 
our  English  versions,  is  referred  to  as  "  the  palace." 
The  original  word  bird  is  probably  Persian,  though  a 
parallel  form  is  quoted  from  the  Assyrian.  As  a 
Hebrew  word  it  belongs  to  the  latest  and  most  corrupt 
stage  of  the  language  as  found  in  the  Old  Testament ; 
and  only  occurs  in  Chronicles,  Nehemiah,  Esther,  and 
Daniei  In  putting  this  word  into  the  mouth  of  David, 
the  chronicler  is  guilty  of  an  anachronism,  parallel  to 
his  use  of  the  word  "  darics."  The  word  bird  appears 
to  have  first  become  familiar  to  the  Jews  as  the  name 
of  a  Persian  palace  or  fortress  in  Susa ;  it  is  used  in 
Nehemiah  of  the  castle  attached  to  the  Temple,  and  in 
later  times  the  derivative  Greek  name  Baris  had  the 
same  meaning.  It  is  curious  to  find  the  chronicler,  in 
his  effort  to  find  a  sufficiently  dignified  title  for  the 
temple  of  Jehovah,  driven  to  borrow  a  word  which 
belonged  originally  to  the  royal  magnificence  of  a 
heathen  empire,  and  which  was  used  later  on  to  denote 
the  fortress  whence  a  Roman  garrison  controlled  the 
fanaticism  of  Jewish  worship.^  The  chronicler's  in- 
tention, no  doubt,  was  to  intimate  that  the  dignity  of 
the  Temple  surpassed  that  of  any  royal  palace.  He 
could  not  suppose  that  it  was  greater  in  extent  or  con- 
structed of  more  costly  materials ;  the  living  presence 
of  Jehovah  was  its  one  supreme  and  unique  distinction. 
The  King  gave  honour  to  His  dwelling-place. 

'  Called,  however,  at  that  time  Antonia. 


CHAPTER   II 

REHOBOAM  AND  ABIJAH :    THE  IMPORTANCE 
OF  RITUAL 

2  Chron.  x.-xiii. 

THE  transition  from  Solomon  to  Rehoboam  brings 
to  light  a  serious  drawback  of  the  chronicler's 
principle  of  selection.  In  the  history  of  Solomon  we 
read  of  nothing  but  wealth,  splendour,  unchallenged 
dominion,  and  superhuman  wisdom ;  and  yet  the 
breath  is  hardly  out  of  the  body  of  the  wisest  and 
greatest  king  of  Israel  before  his  empire  falls  to  pieces. 
We  are  told,  as  in  the  book  of  Kings,  that  the  people 
met  Rehoboam  with  a  demand  for  release  from  "  the 
grievous  service  of  thy  father,"  and  yet  we  were 
expressly  told  only  two  chapters  before  that  "  of  the 
children  of  Israel  did  Solomon  make  no  servants  for  his 
work  ;  but  they  were  men  of  war,  and  chief  of  his 
captains,  and  rulers  of  his  chariots  and  of  his  horse- 
men." ^  Rehoboam  apparently  had  been  left  by  the 
wisdom  of  his  father  to  the  companionship  of  head- 
strong and  featherbrained  youths  ;  he  followed  their 
advice  rather  than  that  of  Solomon's  grey-headed 
counsellors,  with  the  result  that  the  ten  tribes 
successfully  revolted  and  chose  Jeroboam  for  their 
king.     Rehoboam  assembled  an  army  to  reconquer  his 

'   viii.  9. 
320 


2  Chron.  x.-xiii.]     THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  321 

lost  territory,  but  Jehovah  through  the  prophet 
Shemaiah  forbade  him  to  make  war  against  Jeroboam. 

The  chronicler  here  and  elsewhere  shows  his 
anxiety  not  to  perplex  simple  minds  with  unnecessary 
difficulties.  They  might  be  harassed  and  disturbed 
by  the  discovery  that  the  king,  who  built  the  Temple 
and  was  specially  endowed  with  Divine  wisdom,  had 
fallen  into  grievous  sin  and  been  visited  with  condign 
punishment.  Accordingly  everything  that  discredits 
Solomon  and  detracts  from  his  glory  is  omitted.  The 
general  principle  is  sound ;  an  earnest  teacher,  alive  to 
his  responsibility,  will  not  wantonly  obtrude  difficulties 
upon  his  hearers ;  when  silence  does  not  involve 
disloyalty  to  truth,  he  will  be  willing  that  they  should 
remain  in  ignorance  of  some  of  the  more  mysterious 
dealings  of  God  in  nature  and  history.  But  silence 
was  more  possible  and  less  dangerous  in  the  chroni- 
cler's time  than  in  the  nineteenth  century.  He  could 
count  upon  a  docile  and  submissive  spirit  in  his 
readers ;  they  would  not  inquire  beyond  what  they  were 
told  :  they  would  not  discover  the  difficulties  for  them- 
selves. Jewish  youths  were  not  exposed  to  the  attacks 
of  eager  and  militant  sceptics,  who  would  force  these 
difficulties  upon  their  notice  in  an  exaggerated  form, 
and  at  once  demand  that  they  should  cease  to  believe 
in  anj^thing  human  or  Divine. 

And  yet,  though  the  chronicler  had  great  advantages 
in  this  matter,  his  own  narrative  illustrates  the  narrow 
limits  within  which  the  principle  of  the  suppression  of 
difficulties  can  be  safely  applied.  His  silence  as  to 
Solomon's  sins  and  misfortunes  makes  the  revolt 
of  the  ten  tribes  utterly  inexplicable.  After  the 
account  of  the  perfect  wisdom,  peace,  and  prosperity  of 
Solomon's  reign,  the  revolt  comes  upon  an  intelligent 

21 


322  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

reader  with  a  shock  of  surprise  and  almost  of  incredu- 
lity. If  he  could  not  test  the  chronicler's  narrative 
by  that  of  the  book  of  Kings — and  it  was  no  part  of 
the  chronicler's  purpose  that  his  history  should  be 
thus  tested — the  violent  transition  from  Solomon's 
unbroken  prosperity  to  the  catastrophe  of  the  dis- 
ruption would  leave  the  reader  quite  uncertain  as  to 
the  general  credibility  of  Chronicles.  In  avoiding 
Scylla,  our  author  has  fallen  into  Charybdis ;  he  has 
suppressed  one  set  of  difficulties  only  to  create  others. 
If  we  wish  to  help  intelligent  inquirers  and  to  aid 
them  to  form  an  independent  judgment,  our  safest  plan 
will  often  be  to  tell  them  all  we  know  ourselves  and  to 
believe  that  difficulties,  which  in  no  way  mar  our 
spiritual  life,  will  not  destroy  their  faith. 

In  the  next  section  ^  the  chronicler  tells  how  for 
three  years  Rehoboam  administered  his  diminished 
kingdom  with  wisdom  and  success ;  he  and  his  people 
walked  in  the  way  of  David  and  Solomon,  and  his 
kingdom  was  estabhshed,  and  he  was  strong.  He 
fortified  fifteen  cities  in  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  put 
captains  in  them,  and  store  of  victuals,  and  oil  and 
wine,  and  shields  and  spears,  and  made  them  exceed- 
ing strong.  Rehoboam  was  further  strengthened  by 
deserters  from  the  northern  kingdom.  Though  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  book  of  Joshua  assigned  to  the 
priests  and  Levites  cities  in  the  territory  held  by 
Jeroboam,  yet  their  intimate  association  with  the 
Temple  rendered  it  impossible  for  them  to  remain 
citizens  of  a  state  hostile  to  Jerusalem.  The  chronicler 
indeed  tells  us  that  "  Jeroboam  and  his  sons  cast  them 
off,  that  they  should  not  execute  the  priest's  office  unto 

'  xi.  5-xii.  I,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


2  Chron.  x.-xiii.J       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  323 

Jehovah,  and  appointed  others  to  be  priests  for  the 
high  places  and  the  he-goats  and  for  the  calves  which 
he  had."  It  is  difficult  to  understand  what  the  chroni- 
cler means  by  this  statement.  On  the  face  of  it,  we 
should  suppose  that  Jeroboam  refused  to  employ  the 
house  of  Aaron  and  the  tribe  of  Levi  for  the  worship 
of  his  he-goats  and  calves,  but  the  chronicler  could  not 
describe  such  action  as  casting  "  them  off  that  they 
should  not  execute  the  priest's  office'  unto  Jehovah." 
The  passage  has  been  explained  to  mean  that  Jeroboam 
sought  to  hinder  them  from  exercising  their  functions 
at  the  Temple  by  preventing  them  from  visiting  Judah  ; 
but  to  confine  the  priests  and  Levites  to  his  own 
kingdom  would  have  been  a  strange  way  of  casting 
them  off  However,  whether  driven  out  by  Jeroboam 
or  escaping  from  him,  they  came  to  Jerusalem  and 
brought  with  them  from  among  the  ten  tribes  other 
pious  Israelites,  who  were  attached  to  the  worship  of 
the  Temple.  Judah  and  Jerusalem  became  the  home 
of  all  true  worshippers  of  Jehovah ;  and  those  who 
remained  in  the  northern  kingdom  were  given  up  to 
idolatry  or  the  degenerate  and  corrupt  worship  of  the 
high  places.  The  chronicler  then  gives  us  some  account 
of  Rehoboam's  harem  and  children,  and  tells  that  he 
dealt  wisely,  and  dispersed  his  twenty-eight  sons 
"  throughout  all  the  lands  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  unto 
every  fenced  city."  He  gave  them  the  means  of  main- 
taining a  luxurious  table,  and  provided  them  with 
numerous  wives,  and  trusted  that,  being  thus  happily 
circumstanced,  they  would  lack  leisure,  energy,  and 
ambition  to  imitate  Absalom  and  Adonijah. 

Prosperity  and  security  turned  the  head  of  Rehoboam 
as  they  had  done  that  of  David  :  "  He  forsook  the  law  of 
Jehovah,  and  all  Israel  with  him."     "All  Israel  "  means 


324  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

all  the  subjects  of  Rehoboam  ;  the  chronicler  treats  the 
ten  tribes  as  cut  off  from  Israel.  The  faithful  wor- 
shippers of  Jehovah  in  Judah  had  been  reinforced  by 
the  priests,  Levites,  and  all  other  pious  Israelites  from 
the  northern  kingdom  ;  and  yet  in  three  years  they 
forsook  the  cause  for  which  they  had  left  their  country 
and  their  father's  house.  Punishment  was  not  long 
delayed,  for  Shishak,  king  of  Egypt,  invaded  Judah  with 
an  immense  host  and  took  away  the  treasures  of  the 
house  of  Jehovah  and  of  the  king's  house. 

The  chronicler  explains  why  Rehoboam  was  not 
more  severely  punished.^  Shishak  appeared  before 
Jerusalem  with  his  immense  host  :  Ethiopians,  Lubim 
or  Lybians,  and  Sukiim,  a  mysterious  people  only  men- 
tioned here.  The  LXX.  and  Vulgate  translate  Sukiim 
**  Troglodytes,"  apparently  identifying  them  with  the 
cave-dwellers  on  the  western  or  Ethiopian  coast  of  the 
Red  Sea.  In  order  to  find  safety  from  these  strange 
and  barbarous  enemies,  Rehoboam  and  his  princes  were 
gathered  together  in  Jerusalem.  Shemaiah  the  prophet 
appeared  before  them,  and  declared  that  the  invasion 
was  Jehovah's  punishment  for  their  sin,  whereupon 
they  humbled  themselves,  and  Jehovah  accepted  their 
penitent  submission.  He  would  not  destroy  Jerusalem, 
but  the  Jews  should  serve  Shishak,  "  that  they  may 
know  My  service  and  the  service  of  the  kingdoms  of 
the  countries."  When  they  threw  off  the  yoke  of 
Jehovah,  they  sold  themselves  into  a  worse  bondage. 
There  is  no  freedom  to  be  gained  by  repudiating  the 
restraints  of  morality  and  religion.  If  we  do  not  choose 
to  be  the  servants  of  obedience  unto  righteousness, 
our  only   alternative  is  to  become   the  slaves  "  of  sin 

'  jfiii  2-8,  12,  peculiar  \M  Ghroiiiclesi 


2  Chron.  x.-xiii.]     THE  IMPORTANCE   OF  RITUAL  325 


unto  death."  The  repentant  sinner  may  return  to  his 
true  allegiance,  and  yet  he  may  still  be  allowed  to  taste 
something  of  the  bitterness  and  humiliation  of  the 
bondage  of  sin.  His  Shishak  may  be  some  evil  habit 
or  propensity  or  special  liability  to  temptation,  that  is 
permitted  to  harass  him  without  destroying  his  spiritual 
life.  In  time  the  chastening  of  the  Lord  works  out  the 
peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness,  and  the  Christian  is 
.weaned  for  ever  from  the  unprofitable  service  of  sin. 

Unhappily  the  repentance  inspired  by  trouble  and 
distress  is  not  always  real  and  permanent.  Many  will 
humble  themselves  before  the  Lord  in  order  to  avert 
imminent  ruin,  and  will  forsake  Him  when  the  danger 
has  passed. away.  Apparently  Rehoboam  soon  fell  away 
again  into  sin,  for  the  final  judgment  upon  him  is,  "He 
did  that  which  was  evil,  because  he  set  not  his  heart  to 
seek  Jehovah."^  David  in  his  last  prayer  had  asked 
for  a  "  perfect  heart "  for  .Solomon,  but  he  had  not 
been  able  to  secure  this  blessing  for  his  grandson,  and 
Rehoboam  was  "  the  foolishness  of  the  people,  one  that 
had  no  understanding,  who  turned  away  the  people 
through  his  counsel." " 

Rehoboam  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Abijah,  concern- 
ing whom  we  are  told  in  the  book  of  Kings  that  "  he 
walked  in  all  the  sins  of  his  father,  which  he  had  done 
before  him ;  and  his  heart  was  not  perfect  with  Jehovah 
his  God,  as  the  heart  of  David  his  father."  The 
chronicler  omits  this  unfavourable  verdict ;  he  does  not 
indeed  classify  Abijah  among  the  good  kings  by  the 
usual  formal  statement  that  **  he  did  that  which  was 
good  and  right  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah,"  but  Abijah 
delivers  a  hortatory  speech  and   by  Divine  assistance 

'  xii.  14,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
"^  Eccius.  xlvii.  23. 


326  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


obtains  a  great  victory  over  Jeroboam.  There  is  not  a 
suggestion  of  any  evil-doing  on  the  part  of  Abijah  ;  and 
yet  we  gather  from  the  history  of  Asa  that  in  Abijah's 
reign  the  cities  of  Judah  were  given  up  to  idolatry,  with 
all  its  paraphernalia  of  "  strange  altars,  high  places, 
Asherim,  and  sun-images."  As  in  the  case  of  Solomon, 
so  here,  the  chronicler  has  sacrificed  even  the  consis- 
tency of  his  own  narrative  to  his  care  for  the  reputation 
of  the  house  of  David.  How  the  verdict  of  ancient 
history  upon  Abijah  came  to  be  set  aside  we  do  not 
know.  The  charitable  work  of  whitewashing  the  bad 
characters  of  history  has  always  had  an  attraction  for 
enterprising  annalists;  and  Abijah  was  a  more  promising 
subject  than  Nero,  Tiberius,  or  Henry  VIII.  The 
chronicler  would  rejoice  to  discover  one  more  good 
king  of  Judah  ;  but  yet  why  should  the  record  of  Abijah's 
sins  be  expunged,  while  Ahaziah  and  Amon  were  still 
held  up  to  the  execration  of  posterity  ?  Probably  the 
chronicler  was  anxious  that  nothing  should  mar  the 
effect  of  his  narrative  of  Abijah's  victory.  If  his  later 
sources  had  recorded  anything  equally  creditable  of 
Ahaziah  and  Amon,  he  might  have  ignored  the  judg- 
ment of  the  book  of  Kings  in  their  case  also. 

The  section  ^  to  which  the  chronicler  attaches  so 
much  importance  describes  a  striking  episode  in  the 
chronic  warfare  between  Judah  and  Israel.  Here 
Israel  is  used,  as  in  the  older  history,  to  mean  the 
northern  kingdom,  and  does  not  denote  the  spiritual 
Lsrael— /.^.,  Judah — as  in  the  previous  chapter.  This 
perplexing  variation  in  the  use  of  the  term  "  Israel  " 
shows  how  far  Chronicles  has  departed  from  the  religious 
ideas  of  the  book  of  Kings,  and  reminds  us  that  the 

'  xiii.  3-22,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


2  Chron.  x.-xiii.]       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  327 

chronicler  has  only  partially  and  imperfectly  assimilated 
his  older  material. 

Abijah  and  Jeroboam  had  each  gathered  an  immense 
army,  but  the  army  of  Israel  was  twice  as  large  as  that 
of  Judah  :  Jeroboam  had  eight  hundred  thousand  to 
Abijah's  four  hundred  thousand.  Jeroboam  advanced, 
confident  in  his  overwhelming  superiority  and  happy 
in  the  belief  that  Providence  sides  with  the  strongest 
battalions.  Abijah,  however,  was  nothing  dismayed 
by  the  odds  against  him  ;  his  confidence  was  in  Jehovah. 
The  two  armies  met  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mount 
Zemaraim,  upon  which  Abijah  fixed  his  camp.  Mount 
Zemaraim  was  in  the  hill-country  of  Ephraim,  but  its 
position  cannot  be  determined  with  certainty  ;  it  was 
probably  near  the  border  of  the  two  kingdoms.  Possibly 
it  was  the  site  of  the  Benjamite  city  of  the  same  name 
mentioned  in  the  book  of  Joshua  in  close  connection 
with  Bethel.^  If  so,  we  should  look  for  it  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Bethel,  a  position  which  would  suit  the  few 
indications  of  place  given  by  the  narrative. 

Before  the  battle,  Abijah  made  an  effort  to  induce 
his  enemies  to  depart  in  peace.  From  the  vantage- 
ground  of  his  mountain  camp  he  addressed  Jeroboam 
and  his  army  as  Jotham  had  addressed  the  men  of 
Shechem  from  Mount  Gerizim.^  Abijah  reminded  the 
rebels — for  as  such  he  regarded  them — that  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  Israel,  had  given  the  kingdom  over  Israel  to 
David  for  ever,  even  to  him  and  to  his  sons,  by  a 
covenant  of  salt,  by  a  charter  as  solemn  and  unalter- 
able as  that  by  which  the  heave-offerings  had  been 
given  to  the  sons  of  Aaron.  ^  The  obligation  of  an 
Arab  host  to  the  guest  who  had  sat  at  meat  with  him 

'  Josh,  xviii.  22.  ■  Judges  ix.  8.  *  Num.  xviii.  19. 


}28  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


and  eaten  of  his  salt  was  not  more  binding  than  the 
Divine  decree  v/hich  had  given  the  throne  of  Israel  to 
the  house  of  David.  And  yet  Jeroboam  the  son  of 
Nebat  had  dared  to  infringe  the  sacred  rights  of  the 
elect  dynasty.  He,  the  slave  of  Solomon,  had  risen 
up  and  rebelled  against  his  master. 

The  indignant  prince  of  the  house  of  David  not 
unnaturally  forgets  that  the  disruption  was  Jehovah's 
own  work,  and  that  Jeroboam  rose  up  against  his 
master,  not  at  the  instigation  of  Satan,  but  by  the 
command  of  the  prophet  Ahijah.^  The  advocates  of 
sacred  causes  even  in  inspired  moments  are  apt  to  be 
one-sided  in  their  statements  of  fact. 

While  Abijah  is  severe  upon  Jeroboam  and  his 
accomplices  and  calls  them  "  vain  men,  sons  of  Belial," 
he  shows  a  filial  tenderness  for  the  memory  of  Reho- 
boam.  That  unfortunate  king  had  been  taken  at  a 
disadvantage,  when  he  was  young  and  tender-hearted 
and  unable  to  deal  sternly  with  rebels.  The  tender- 
ness which  could  threaten  to  chastise  his  people  with 
scorpions  must  have  been  of  the  kind — 

"  That  dared  to  look  on  torture  and  could  not  look  on  war  '' ; 

it  only  appears  in  the  history  in  Rehoboam's  headlong 
flight  to  Jerusalem.  No  one,  however,  will  censure 
Abijah  for  taking  an  unduly  favourable  view  of  his 
father's  character. 

But  whatever  advantage  Jeroboam  may  have  found 
in  his  first  revolt,  Abijah  warns  him  that  now  he  need 
not  think  to  withstand  the  kingdom  of  Jehovah  in  the 
hands  of  the  sons  of  David.  He  is  no  longer  opposed 
to  an  unseasoned  youth,  but  to  men  who  know  their 
overwhelming  advantage.     Jeroboam  need  not  think  to 

'  2  Chron.  x.  15. 


2  Chion.  x.-xiii.]       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  329 


supplement  and  complete  his  former  achievements  by 
adding  Judah  and  Benjamin  to  his  kingdom.  Against 
his  superiority  of  four  hundred  thousand  soldiers  Abijah 
can  set  a  Divine  alliance,  attested  by  the  presence  of 
priests  and  Levites  and  the  regular  performance  of 
the  pentateuchal  ritual,  whilst  the  alienation  of  Israel 
from  Jehovah  is  clearly  shown  by  the  irregular  orders 
of  their  priests.  But  let  Abijah  speak  for  himself: 
"  Ye  be  a  great  multitude,  and  there  are  with  you 
the  golden  calves  which  Jeroboam  made  you  for  gods." 
Possibly  Abijah  was  able  to  point  to  Bethel,  where  the 
royal  sanctuary  of  the  golden  calf  was  visible  to 
both  armies  :  "  Have  ye  not  driven  out  the  priests  of 
Jehovah,  the  sons  of  Aaron  and  the  Levites,  and  made 
for  yourselves  priests  in  heathen  fashion  ?  When  any 
one  comes  to  consecrate  himself  with  a  young  bullock 
and  seven  rams,  ye  make  him  a  priest  of  them  that  are 
no  gods.  But  as  for  us,  Jehovah  is  our  God,  and  we 
have  not  forsaken  Him ;  and  we  have  priests,  the  sons 
of  Aaron,  ministering  unto  Jehovah,  and  the  Levites, 
doing  their  appointed  work  :  and  they  burn  unto 
Jehovah  morning  and  evening  burnt  offerings  and 
sweet  incense  :  the  shewbread  also  they  set  in  order 
upon  the  table  that  is  kept  free  from  all  uncleanness ; 
and  we  have  the  candlestick  of  gold,  with  its  lamps,  to 
burn  every  evening ;  for  we  observe  the  ordinances  of 
Jehovah  our  God  ;  but  ye  have  forsaken  Him.  And, 
behold,  God  is  with  us  at  our  head,  and  His  priests, 
with  the  trumpets  of  alarm,  to  sound  an  alarm  against 
you.  O  children  of  Israel,  fight  ye  not  against  Jehovah, 
the  God  of  your  fathers  ;  for  ye  shall  not  prosper." 

This  speech,  we  are  told,  "  has  been  much  admired. 
It  was  well  suited  to  its  object,  and  exhibits  correct 
notions  of  the  theocratical  institutions."    But,  like  much 


330  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Other  admirable  eloquence,  in  the  House  of  Commons 
and  elsewhere,  Abijah's  speech  had  no  effect  upon 
those  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Jeroboam  apparently 
utilised  the  interval  to  plant  an  ambush  in  the  rear  of 
the  Jewish  army. 

Abijah's  speech  is  unique.  There  have  been  other 
instances  in  which  commanders  have  tried  to  make 
oratory  take  the  place  of  arms,  and,  like  Abijah,  they 
have  mostly  been  unsuccessful ;  but  they  have  usually 
appealed  to  lower  motives.  Sennacherib's  envoys  tried 
ineffectually  to  seduce  the  garrison  of  Jerusalem  from 
their  allegiance  to  Hezekiah,  but  they  relied  on  threats 
of  destruction  and  promises  of  "  a  land  of  corn  and 
wine,  a  land  of  bread  and  vineyards,  a  land  of  oil  olive 
and  honey."  There  is,  however,  a  parallel  instance 
of  more  successful  persuasion.  When  Octavian  was 
at  war  with  his  fellow-triumvir  Lepidus,  he  made  a 
daring  attempt  to  win  over  his  enemy's  army.  He 
did  not  address  them  from  the  safe  elevation  of  a 
neighbouring  mountain,  but  rode  openly  into  the 
hostile  camp.  He  appealed  to  the  soldiers  by  motives 
as  lofty  as  those  urged  by  Abijah,  and  called  upon 
them  to  save  their  country  from  civil  war  by  desert- 
ing Lepidus.  At  the  moment  his  appeal  failed,  and 
he  only  escaped  with  a  wound  in  his  breast ;  but 
after  a  while  his  enemy's  soldiers  came  over  to  him  in 
detachments,  and  eventually  Lepidus  was  compelled  to 
surrender  to  his  rival.  But  the  deserters  were  not 
altogether  influenced  by  pure  patriotism.  Octavian 
had  carefully  prepared  the  wa}^  for  his  dramatic  appear- 
ance in  the  camp  of  Lepidus,  and  had  used  grosser 
means  of  persuasion  than  arguments  addressed  to 
patriotic  feeling. 

Another  instance  of  a  successful  appeal  to  a  hostile 


2  Chron.  x.-xiii.]       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  331 

force  is  found  in  the  history  of  the  first  Napoleon, 
when  he  was  marching  on  Paris  after  his  return  from 
Elba.  Near  Grenoble  he  was  met  by  a  body  of  royal 
troops.  He  at  once  advanced  to  the  front,  and  expos- 
ing his  breast,  exclaimed  to  the  opposing  ranks,  **  Here 
is  your  emperor  ;  if  any  one  would  kill  me,  let  him 
fire."  The  detachment,  which  had  been  sent  to  arrest 
his  progress,  at  once  deserted  to  their  old  commander. 
Abijah's  task  was  less  hopeful  :  the  soldiers  whom 
Octavian  and  Napoleon  won  over  had  known  these 
generals  as  lawful  commanders  of  Roman  and  French 
armies  respectively,  but  Abijah  could  not  appeal  to 
any  old  associations  in  the  minds  of  Jeroboam's  army ; 
the  Israelites  were  animated  by  ancient  tribal  jealousies, 
and  Jeroboam  was  made  of  sterner  stuff"  than  Lepidus 
or  Louis  XVIII.  Abijah's  appeal  is  a  monument  of 
his  humanity,  faith,  and  devotion  ;  and  if  it  failed  to 
influence  the  enemy,  doubtless  served  to  inspirit  his 
own  army. 

At  first,  however,  things  went  hardly  with  Judah. 
They  were  outgeneralled  as  well  as  outnumbered ; 
Jeroboam's  main  body  attacked  them  in  front,  and  the 
ambush  assailed  their  rear.  Like  the  men  of  Ai, 
"  when  Judah  looked  back,  behold,  the  battle  was 
before  and  behind  them."  But  Jehovah,  who  fought 
against  Ai,  was  fighting  for  Judah,  and  they  cried  unto 
Jehovah  ;  and  then,  as  at  Jericho,  '*  the  men  of  Judah 
gave  a  shout,  and  when  they  shouted,  God  smote 
Jeroboam  and  all  Israel  before  Abijah  and  Judah." 
The  rout  was  complete,  and  was  accompanied  by 
terrible  slaughter.  No  fewer  than  five  hundred  thousand 
Israelites  were  slain  by  the  men  of  Judah.  The  latter 
pressed  their  advantage,  and  took  the  neighbouring  city 
of   Bethel    and  other  Israelite    towns.     For   the    time 


332  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Israel  was  "  brought  under,"  and  did  not  recover  from 
its  tremendous  losses  during  the  three  years  of  Abijah's 
reign.  As  for  Jeroboam,  Jehovah  smote  him,  and  he 
died ;  but  "  Abijah  M^axed  mighty,  and  took  unto  himself 
fourteen  wives,  and  begat  twenty-and-two  sons  and 
sixteen  daughters."^  His  history  closes  with  the 
record  of  these  proofs  of  Divine  favour,  and  he  "  slept 
with  his  fathers,  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of 
David,  and  Asa  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead." 

The  lesson  which  the  chronicler  intends  to  teach  by 
his  narrative  is  obviously  the  importance  of  ritual,  not 
the  importance  of  ritual  apart  from  the  worship  of  the 
true  God  ;  he  emphasises  the  presence  of  Jehovah  with 
Judah,  in  contrast  to  the  Israehte  worship  of  calves  and 
those  that  are  no  gods.  The  chronicler  dwells  upon 
the  maintenance  of  the  legitimate  priesthood  and  the 
prescribed  ritual  as  the  natural  expression  and  clear 
proof  of  the  devotion  of  the  men  of  Judah  to  their  God. 

It  may  help  us  to  realise  the  significance  of  Abijah's 
speech,  if  we  try  to  construct  an  appeal  in  the  same 
spirit  for  a  Catholic  general  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  addressing  a  hostile  Protestant  army.  Imagine 
Wallenstein  or  Tilly,  moved  by  some  unwonted  spirit 
of  pious  oratory,  addressing  the  soldiers  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  : — 

"  We  have  a  pope  who  sits  in  Peter's  chair,  bishops 
and  priests  ministering  unto  the  Lord,  in  the  true 
apostolical  succession.  The  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  is 
daily  offered ;  matins,  laud,  vespers,  and  compline 
are  all  duly  celebrated  ;  our  churches  are  fragrant 
with  incense  and  glorious  with  stained  glass  and 
images;  we  have  crucifixes,  and  lamps,  and  candles  ;  and 

'  This  verse  must  of  course  be  understood  to  give  his  whole  family 
history,  and  not  merely  that  of  his  three  years'  reign. 


2  Chron.  x.-xiii.]       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  333 

our  priests  are  fitly  clothed  in  ecclesiastical  vestments ; 
for  we  observe  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  but  ye 
have  forsaken  the  Divine  order.  Behold,  God  is  with  us 
at  our  head  ;  and  we  have  banners  blessed  by  the  Pope. 
O  ye  Swedes,  ye  fight  against  God ;  ye  shall  not 
prosper." 

As  Protestants  we  may  find  it  difficult  to  sympathise 
with  the  feelings  of  a  devout  Romanist  or  even  with 
those  of  a  faithful  observer  of  the  complicated  Mosaic 
ritual.  We  could  not  construct  so  close  a  parallel  to 
Abijah's  speech  in  terms  of  any  Protestant  order  of 
service,  and  yet  the  objections  which  any  modern 
denomination  feels  to  departures  from  its  own  forms 
of  worship  rest  on  the  same  principles  as  those  of 
Abijah.  In  the  abstract  the  speech  teaches  two  main 
lessons :  the  importance  of  an  official  and  duly 
accredited  ministry  and  of  a  suitable  and  authorita- 
tive ritual.  These  principles  are  perfectly  general,  and 
are  not  confined  to  what  is  usually  known  as  sacer- 
dotalism and  ritualism.  Every  Church  has  in  practice 
some  official  ministry,  even  those  Churches  that  profess 
to  owe  their  separate  existence  to  the  necessity  for  pro- 
testing against  an  official  ministry.  Men  whose  chief 
occupation  is  to  denounce  priestcraft  may  themselves 
be  saturated  with  the  sacerdotal  spirit.  Every  Church, 
too,  has  its  ritual.  The  silence  of  a  Friends'  meeting  is 
as  much  a  rite  as  the  most  elaborate  genuflexion  before 
a  highly  ornamented  altar.  To  regard  either  the 
absence  or  presence  of  rites  as  essential  is  equally 
ritualistic.  The  man  who  leaves  his  wonted  place 
of  worship  because  ''  Amen  "  is  sung  at  the  end  of  a 
hymn  is  as  bigoted  a  ritualist  as  his  brother  who  dare 
not  pass  an  altar  without  crossing  himself.  Let  us 
then   consider   the    chronicler  s   two  principles  in   this 


334  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


broad  sense.  The  official  ministry  of  Israel  consisted 
of  the  priests  and  Levites,  and  the  chronicler  counted 
it  a  proof  of  the  piety  of  the  Jews  that  they  adhered 
to  this  ministry  and  did  not  admit  to  the  priesthood 
any  one  who  could  bring  a  young  bullock  and  seven 
rams.  The  alternative  was  not  between  a  hereditary 
priesthood  and  one  open  to  any  aspirant  with  special 
spiritual  qualifications,  but  between  a  duly  trained  and 
qualified  ministry  on  the  one  hand  and  a  motley  crew 
of  the  forerunners  of  Simon  Magus  on  the  other.  It  is 
impossible  not  to  sympathise  with  the  chronicler.  To 
begin  with,  the  property  qualification  was  too  low.  If 
livings  are  to  be  purchased  at  all,  they  should  bear  a 
price  commensurate  with  the  dignity  and  responsibility 
of  the  sacred  office.  A  mere  entrance  fee,  so  to  speak, 
of  a  young  bullock  and  seven  rams  must  have  flooded 
Jeroboam's  priesthood  with  a  host  of  adventurers,  to 
whom  the  assumption  of  the  office  was  a  matter  of 
social  or  commercial  speculation.  The  private  adven- 
ture system  of  providing  for  the  ministry  of  the  word 
scarcely  tends  to  either  the  dignity  or  the  efficiency  of 
the  Church.  But,  in  any  case,  it  is  not  desirable  that 
mere  worldly  gifts,  money,  social  position,  or  even 
intellect  should  be  made  the  sole  passports  to  Christian 
service ;  even  the  traditions  and  education  of  a  here- 
ditary priesthood  would  be  more  probable  channels  of 
spiritual  qualifications. 

Another  point  that  the  chronicler  objects  to  in 
Jeroboam's  priests  is  the  want  of  any  other  than  a 
property  qualification.  Any  one  wJio  chose  could  be  a 
priest.  Such  a  system  combined  what  might  seem 
opposite  vices.  It  preserved  an  official  ministry  ;  these 
self-appointed  priests  formed  a  clerical  order ;  and  yet 
it    gave    no   guarantee    whatever   of  either   fitness   or 


2  Chron.  s.-xiii.]       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  335 


devotion.  The  chronicler,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the 
importance  he  attaches  to  the  Levitical  priesthood, 
recognises  the  necessity  of  an  official  ministry,  but  is 
anxious  that  it  should  be  guarded  with  jealous  care 
against  the  intrusion  of  unsuitable  persons.  A  con- 
clusive argument  for  an  official  ministry  is  to  be  found 
in  its  formal  adoption  by  most  Churches  and  its 
uninvited  appearance  in  the  rest.  We  should  not  now 
be  contented  with  the  safeguards  against  unsuitable 
ministers  to  be  found  in  hereditary  succession  ;  the 
system  of  the  Pentateuch  would  be  neither  acceptable 
nor  possible  in  the  nineteenth  century :  and  yet,  if  it 
had  been  perfectly  administered,  the  Jewish  priesthood 
would  have  been  worthy  of  its  high  office,  nor  were 
the  times  ripe  for  the  substitution  of  any  better 
system.  Many  of  the  considerations  which  justify 
hereditary  succession  in  a  constitutional  monarchy 
might  be  adduced  in  defence  of  a  hereditary  priesthood. 
Even  now,  without  any  pressure  of  law  or  custom,  there 
is  a  certain  tendency  towards  hereditary  succession  in 
the  ministerial  office.  It  would  be  easy  to  name  distin- 
guished ministers  who  were  inspired  for  the  high  calling 
by  their  fathers'  devoted  service,  and  who  received 
an  invaluable  preparation  for  their  life-work  from  the 
Christian  enthusiasm  of  a  clerical  household.  The 
clerical  ancestry  of  the  Wesleys  is  only  one  among  many 
illustrations  of  an  inherited  genius  for  the  ministry. 

But  though  the  best  method  of  obtaining  a  suitable 
ministry  varies  with  changing  circumstances,  the  chroni- 
cler's main  principle  is  of  permanent  and  universal 
application.  The  Church  has  always  felt  a  just  concern 
that  the  official  representatives  of  its  faith  and  order 
should  commend  themselves  to  every  man's  conscience 
in  the  sight  of  God.     The  prophet  needs  neither  testi- 


336  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

monials  nor  official  status  :  the  word  of  the  Lord  can 
have  free  course  without  either;  but  the  appointment 
or  election  to  ecclesiastical  office  entrusts  the  official 
with  the  honour  of  the  Church  and  in  a  measure  of  its 
Master. 

The  chronicler's  other  principle  is  the  importance  of 
a  suitable  and  authoritative  ritual.  We  have  already 
noticed  that  any  order  of  service  that  is  fixed  by  the 
constitution  or  custom  of  a  Church  involves  the  principle 
of  ritual.  Abijah's  speech  does  not  insist  that  only  the 
established  ritual  should  be  tolerated ;  such  questions 
had  not  come  within  the  chronicler's  horizon.  The 
merit  of  Judah  lay  in  possessing  and  practising  a 
legitimate  ritual,  that  is  to  say  in  observing  the  Pauline 
injunction  to  do  all  things  decently  and  in  order.  The 
present  generation  is  not  inclined  to  enforce  any  very 
stringent  obedience  to  Paul's  teaching,  and  finds  it 
difficult  to  sympathise  with  Abijah's  enthusiasm  for  the 
symbolism  of  worship.  But  men  to-day  are  not  radically 
different  from  the  chronicler's  contemporaries,  and  it  is 
as  legitimate  to  appeal  to  spiritual  sensibility  through 
the  eye  as  through  the  ear ;  architecture  and  decoration 
are  neither  more  nor  less  spiritual  than  an  attractive 
voice  and  impressive  elocution.  Novelty  and  variety 
have,  or  should  have,  their  legitimate  place  in  public 
worship ;  but  the  Church  has  its  obligations  to  those 
who  have  more  regular  spiritual  wants.  Most  of  us 
find  much  of  the  helpfulness  of  public  worship  in  the 
influence  of  old  and  familiar  spiritual  associations, 
which  can  only  be  maintained  by  a  measure  of  per- 
manence and  fixity  in  Divine  service.  The  symbolism 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  never  loses  its  freshness,  and  yet 
it  is  restful  because  familiar  and  impressive  because 
^nc'ent-     On  the  other  hand,  the  maintenance  of  this 


2  Chron.  x.-xiii.]       THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  RITUAL  337 

ritual  is  a  constant  testimony  to  the  continuity  of 
Christian  Hfe  and  faith.  Moreover,  in  this  rite  the  great 
bulk  of  Christendom  finds  the  outward  and  visible  sign 
of  its  unity. 

Ritual,  too,  has  its  negative  value.  By  observing  the 
Levitical  ordinances  the  Jews  were  protected  from  the 
vagaries  of  any  ambitious  owner  of  a  young  bullock  and 
seven  rams.  While  we  grant  liberty  to  all  to  use  the 
form  of  worship  in  which  they  find  most  spiritual 
profit,  we  need  to  have  Churches  whose  ritual  will  be 
comparatively  fixed.  Christians  who  find  themselves 
most  helped  by  the  more  quiet  and  regular  methods 
of  devotion  naturally  look  to  a  settled  order  of  service 
to  protect  them  from  undue  and  distracting  excitement. 

In  spite  of  the  wide  interval  that  separates  the 
modern  Church  from  Judaism,  we  can  still  discern  a 
unity  of  principle,  and  are  glad  to  confirm  the  judgment 
of  Christian  experience  from  the  lessons  of  an  older 
and  different  dispensation.  But  we  should  do  injustice 
to  the  chronicler's  teaching  if  we  forgot  that  for  his 
own  times  his  teaching  was  capable  of  much  more 
definite  and  forcible  application.  Christianity  and  Islam 
have  purified  religious  worship  throughout  Europe, 
America,  and  a  large  portion  of  Asia.  We  are  no 
longer  tempted  by  the  cruel  and  loathsome  rites  of 
heathenism.  The  Jews  knew  the  wild  extravagance, 
gross  immorality,  and  ruthless  cruelty  of  Phoenician 
and  Syrian  worship.  If  we  had  lived  in  the  chroni- 
cler's age  and  had  shared  his  experience  of  idolatrous 
rites,  we  should  have  also  shared  his  enthusiasm  for 
the  pure  and  lofty  ritual  of  the  Pentateuch.  We  should 
have  regarded  it  as  a  Divine  barrier  between  Israel  and 
the  abominations  of  heathenism,  and  should  have  been 
jealous  for  its  strict  observance. 

22 


CHAPTER    III 

ASA  :  DIVINE  RETRIBUTION 
2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi. 

ABIJAH,  dying,  as  far  as  we  can  gather  from 
Chronicles,  in  the  odour  of  sanctity,  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Asa.  The  chronicler's  history  of  Asa  is 
much  fuller  than  that  which  is  given  in  the  book  of 
Kings.  The  older  narrative  is  used  as  a  framework 
into  which  material  from  later  sources  is  freely  in- 
serted. The  beginning  of  the  new  reign  was  singularly 
promising.  Abijah  had  been  a  very  David,  he  had 
fought  the  battles  of  Jehovah,  and  had  assured  the 
security  and  independence  of  Judah.  Asa,  like  Solomon, 
entered  into  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  his  predecessor's 
exertions  in  the  field.  "  In  his  days  the  land  was  quiet 
ten  years,"  as  in  the  days  when  the  judges  had  delivered 
Israel,  and  he  was  able  to  exhort  his  people  to  prudent 
effort  by  reminding  them  that  Jehovah  had  given  them 
rest  on  every  side.  ^  This  interval  of  quiet  was  used 
for  both  religious  reform  and  military  precautions.  ^ 
The  high  places  and  heathen  idols  and  symbols  which 
had  somehow  survived  Abijah's  zeal  for  the  Mosaic 
ritual  were  swept  away,  and  Judah  was  commanded  to 

'  xiv.  I,  7,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

-  XIV.  3-9,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

338 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]       ASA  :  DIVINE  RETRIBUTION  339 

seek  Jehovah  and  observe  the  Law ;  and  he  built 
fortresses  with  towers,  and  gates,  and  bars,  and 
raised  a  great  army  "  that  bare  bucklers  and  spears," 
— no  mere  hasty  levy  of  half-armed  peasants  with 
scythes  and  axes.  The  mighty  array  surpassed  even 
Abijah's  great  muster  of  four  hundred  thousand  from 
Judah  and  Benjamin  :  there  were  five  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  men,  three  hundred  thousand  out  of 
Judah  that  bare  bucklers  and  spears  and  two  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  out  of  Benjamin  that  bare  shields 
and  drew  bows.  The  great  muster  of  Benjamites  under 
Asa  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  meagre  tale  of  six 
hundred  warriors  that  formed  the  whole  strength  of 
Benjamin  after  its  disastrous  defeat  in  the  days  of  the 
judges ;  and  the  splendid  equipment  of  this  mighty  host 
shows  the  rapid  progress  of  the  nation  from  the 
desperate  days  of  Shamgar  and  Jael  or  even  of  Saul's 
early  reign,  when  "there  was  neither  shield  nor  spear 
seen  among  forty  thousand  in  Israel." 

These  references  to  buildings,  especially  fortresses, 
to  military  stores  and  the  vast  numbers  of  Jewish  and 
Israelite  armies,  form  a  distinct  class  amongst  the 
additions  made  by  the  chronicler  to  the  material 
taken  from  the  book  of  Kings.  They  are  found  in 
the  narratives  of  the  reigns  of  David,  Rehoboam, 
Jehoshaphat,  Uzziah,  Jotham,  Manasseh,  in  fact  in 
the  reigns  of  nearly  all  the  good  kings ;  Manasseh's 
building  was  done  after  he  had  turned  from  his  evil 
ways.^  Hezekiah  and  Josiah  were  too  much  occupied 
with  sacred  festivals  on  the  one  hand  and  hostile 
invaders  on  the  other  to  have  much  leisure  for  building, 

'  I  Chron.   xii.,  etc. ;  2  Chron.  xi.  5  ff.,  xvii.  12  ff.,  xxvi.  9  ft',   xxvii. 
4  ff.,  xxxiii.  14. 


340  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

and  it  would  not  have  been  in  keeping  with  Solomon's 
character  as  the  prince  of  peace  to  have  laid  stress  on 
his  arsenals  and  armies.  Otherwise  the  chronicler, 
living  at  a  time  when  the  warlike  resources  of  Judah 
were  of  the  slightest,  was  naturally  interested  in  these 
reminiscences  of  departed  glory ;  and  the  Jewish 
provincials  would  take  a  pride  in  relating  these  pieces 
of  antiquarian  information  about  their  native  towns, 
much  as  the  servants  of  old  manor-houses  delight  to 
point  out  the  wing  which  was  added  by  some  famous 
Cavalier  or  by  some  Jacobite  squire. 

Asa's  warlike  preparations  were  possibly  intended,  like 
those  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  to  enable  him  to  maintain 
peace  ;  but  if  so,  their  sequel  did  not  illustrate  the 
maxim,  "  Si  vis  pacem,  para  bellum."  The  rumour  of  his 
vast  armaments  reached  a  powerful  monarch  :  "  Zerah 
the  Ethiopian."^  The  vagueness  of  this  description  is 
doubtless  due  to  the  remoteness  of  the  chronicler  from 
the  times  he  is  describing.  Zerah  has  sometimes  been 
identified  with  Shishak's  successor,  Osorkon  I.,  the 
second  king  of  the  twenty-second  Egyptian  dynasty. 
Zerah  felt  that  Asa's  great  army  was  a  standing 
menace  to  the  surrounding  princes,  and  undertook  the 
task  of  destroying  this  new  military  power  :  "  He  came 
out  against  them."  Numerous  as  Asa's  forces  were,  they 
still  left  him  dependent  upon  Jehovah,  for  the  enemy 
were  even  more  numerous  and  better  equipped.  Zerah 
led  to  a  battle  an  army  of  a  million  men,  supported  by 
three  hundred  war  chariots.  With  this  enormous 
host  he  came  to  Mareshah,  at  the  foot  of  the  Judaean 
highlands,  in  a  direction  south-west  of  Jerusalem.  In 
spite  of  the  inferiority  of  his  army,  Asa  came  out   to 

'  xjv.  9-15. 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]        ASA  :  DIVINE  RETRIBUTION  341 

meet  him ;  "  and  they  set  the  battle  in  array  in  the 
valley  of  Zephathah  at  Mareshah."  Like  Abijah,  Asa 
felt  that,  with  his  Divine  Ally,  he  need  not  be  afraid 
of  the  odds  against  him  even  when  they  could  be 
counted  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  Trusting  in 
Jehovah,  he  had  taken  the  field  against  the  enemy  ; 
and  now  at  the  decisive  moment  he  made  a  confident 
appeal  for  help  :  "  Jehovah,  there  is  none  beside  Thee 
to  help  between  the  mighty  and  him  that  hath  no 
strength."  Five  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men 
seemed  nothing  compared  to  the  host  arrayed  against 
them,  and  outnumbering  them  in  the  proportion  of 
nearly  two  to  one.  **  Help  us,  Jehovah  our  God  ;  for 
we  rely  on  Thee,  and  in  Thy  name  are  we  come  against 
this  multitude.  Jehovah,  Thou  art  our  God ;  let  not 
man  prevail  against  Thee." 

Jehovah  justified  the  trust  reposed  in  Him.  He  smote 
the  Ethiopians,  and  they  fled  towards  the  south-west 
in  the  direction  of  Egypt ;  and  Asa  and  his  army 
pursued  them  as  far  as  Gerar,  with  fearful  slaughter, 
so  that  of  Zerah's  million  followers  not  one  remained 
alive.^  Of  course  this  statement  is  hyperbolical.  The 
carnage  was  enormous,  and  no  living  enemies  remained 
in  sight.  Apparently  Gerar  and  the  neighbouring 
cities  had  aided  Zerah  in  his  advance  and  attempted 
to  shelter  the  fugitives  from  Mareshah.  Paralysed 
with  fear  of  Jehovah,  whose  avenging  wrath  had 
been  so  terribly  manifested,  these  cities  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  the  victorious  Jews.  They  smote  and  spoiled 
all  the  cities  about  Gerar,  and  reaped  a  rich  harvest, 


'  So  R.V.  marg. ;  R.V.  text  (with  which  A.V.  is  in  substantial  agree- 
ment) :  "There  fell  of  the  Ethiopians  so  many  that  they  could  not 
recover  themselves  "  ;  i.e.,  the  routed  army  were  never  able  to  rally. 


342  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

"  for  there  was  much  spoil  in  them."  It  seems  that 
the  nomad  tribes  of  the  southern  wilderness  had 
also  in  some  way  identified  themselves  with  the 
invaders ;  Asa  attacked  them  in  their  turn.  "  They 
smote  also  the  tents  of  cattle "  ;  and  as  the  wealth  of 
these  tribes  lay  in  their  flocks  and  herds,  "they  carried 
awa}^  sheep  in  abundance  and  camels,  and  returned  to 
Jerusalem." 

This  victory  is  closely  parallel  to  that  of  Abijah  over 
Jeroboam.  In  both  the  numbers  of  the  armies  are 
reckoned  by  hundreds  of  thousands ;  and  the  hostile 
host  outnumbers  the  army  of  Judah  in  the  one  case 
by  exactly  two  to  one,  in  the  other  by  nearly  that 
proportion  :  in  both  the  king  of  Judah  trusts  with  calm 
assurance  to  the  assistance  of  Jehovah,  and  Jehovah 
smites  the  enemy ;  the  Jews  then  massacre  the 
defeated  army  and  spoil  or  capture  the  neighbouring 
cities. 

These  victories  over  superior  numbers  may  easily  be 
paralleled  or  surpassed  b}^  numerous  striking  examples 
from  secular  history.  The  odds  were  greater  at 
Agincourt,  where  at  least  sixty  thousand  French  were 
defeated  by  not  more  than  twenty  thousand  Englishm.en; 
at  Marathon  the  Greeks  routed  a  Persian  army  ten 
times  as  numerous  as  their  own  ;  in  India  English 
generals  have  defeated  innumerable  hordes  of  native 
warriors,  as  when  Wellesiey — 

"  Against  the  myriads  cf  Assaj'e 
Clashed  with  his  fiery  few  ard  won." 

For  the  most  part  victorious  generals  have  been  ready 
to  acknowledge  the  succouring  arm  of  the  God  of  battles. 
Shakespeare's  Henry  V.  after  Agincourt  speaks  alto- 
gether in  the  spirit  of  Asa's  prayer  ; — . 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]      ASA  :   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  343 


"  .  .  .  O  God,  Thy  arm  was  here ; 
And  not  to  us,  but  to  Thy  arm  alone, 

Ascribe  we  all 

Take  it,  God, 

For  it  is  only  Thine." 

When  the  small  craft  that  made  up  Elizabeth's  fleet 
defeated  the  huge  Spanish  galleons  and  galleasseSj  and 
the  storms  of  the  northern  seas  finished  the  work  of 
destruction,  the  grateful  piety  of  Protestant  England 
felt  that  its  foes  had  been  destroyed  by  the  breath  of 
the  Lord;  "AfQavit  Deus  et  dissipantur." 

The  principle  that  underlies  such  feelings  is  quite 
independent  of  the  exact  proportions  of  opposing  armies. 
The  victories  of  inferior  numbers  in  a  righteous  cause 
are  the  most  striking,  but  not  the  most  significant, 
illustrations  of  the  superiority  of  moral  to  material 
force.  In  the  wider  movements  of  international  politics 
we  may  find  even  more  characteristic  instances.  It  is 
true  of  nations  as  well  as  of  individuals  that — 

"  The  Lord  killcth  and  maketh  alive  ; 
He  bringeth  down  to  the  grave  and  bringeth  up  : 
The  Lord  maketh  poor  and  maketh  rich  ; 
He  bringeth  low,  He  also  lifteth  up  : 
He  raiseth  up  the  poor  out  of  the  dust, 
He  lifteth  up  the  needy  from  the  dunghill, 
To  make  them  sit  with  princes 
And  inherit  the  throne  of  glory." 

Italy  in  the  eighteenth  century  seemed  as  hopelessly 
divided  as  Israel  under  the  judges,  and  Greece  as 
completely  enslaved  to  the  "unspeakable  Turk"  as  the 
jews  to  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  and  yet,  destitute  as  they 
were  of  any  material  resources,  these  nations  had  at 
their  disposal  great  moral  forces  :  the  memory  of  ancient 
greatness  and  the  .sentim.ent  of  nationality;  and  to- 
day Italy  can  count  hundreds  of  thousands  like  the 


344  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

chronicler's  Jewish  kings,  and  Greece  builds  her  for- 
tresses by  land  and  her  ironclads  to  command  the  sea. 
The  Lord  has  fought  for  Israel. 

But  the  principle  has  a  wider  application.  A  little 
examination  of  the  more  obscure  and  complicated  move- 
ments of  social  life  will  show  moral  forces  everywhere 
overcoming  and  controlling  the  apparently  irresistible 
material  forces  opposed  to  them.  The  English  and 
American  pioneers  of  the  movements  for  the  abolition 
of  slavery  had  to  face  what  seemed  an  impenetrable 
phalanx  of  powerful  interests  and  influences ;  but  pro- 
bably any  impartial  student  of  history  would  have 
foreseen  the  ultimate  triumph  of  a  handful  of  earnest 
men  over  all  the  wealth  and  political  power  of  the 
slave-owners.  The  moral  forces  at  the  disposal  of 
the  abolitionists  were  obviously  irresistible.  But  the 
soldier  in  the  midst  of  smoke  and  tumult  may  still 
be  anxious  and  despondent  at  the  very  moment  when 
the  spectator  sees  clearly  that  the  battle  is  won  ;  and 
the  most  earnest  Christian  workers  sometimes  falter 
when  they  realise  the  vast  and  terrible  forces  that  fight 
against  them.  At  such  times  we  are  both  rebuked 
and  encouraged  by  the  simple  faith  of  the  chronicler 
in  the  overruling  power  of  God. 

It  may  be  objected  that  if  victory  were  to  be  secured 
by  Divine  intervention,  there  was  no  need  to  muster  five 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men  or  indeed  any  army 
at  all.  If  in  any  and  every  case  God  disposes,  what 
need  is  there  for  the  devotion  to  His  service  of  our 
best  strength,  and  energy,  and  culture,  or  of  any  human 
effort  at  all  ?  A  wholesome  spiritual  instinct  leads  the 
chronicler  to  emphasise  the  great  preparations  of  Abijah 
and  Asa.  We  have  no  right  to  look  for  Divine  co- 
operation till  we  have  done  our  best ;    we   are  not  to 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi."|      ASA  :   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  34S 

sit  with  folded  hands  and  expect  a  complete  salvation 
to  be  wrought  for  us,  and  then  to  continue  as  idle 
spectators  of  God's  redemption  of  mankind  :  we  are 
to  tax  our  resources  to  the  utmost  to  gather  our 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  soldiers ;  we  are  to  work  out 
our  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is  God 
that  worketh  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good 
pleasure. 

This  principle  may  be  put  in  another  way.  Even 
to  the  hundreds  of  thousands  the  Divine  help  is  still 
necessary.  The  leaders  of  great  hosts  are  as  dependent 
upon  Divine  help  as  Jonathan  and  his  armour-bearer 
fighting  single-handed  against  a  Philistine  garrison,  or 
David  arming  himself  with  a  sling  and  stone  against 
Goliath  of  Gath.  The  most  competent  Christian 
worker  in  the  prime  of  his  spiritual  strength  needs 
grace  as  much  as  the  untried  youth  making  his  first 
venture  in  the  Lord's  service. 

At  this  point  we  meet  with  another  of  the  chronicler's 
obvious  self-contradictions.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
narrative  of  Asa's  reign  we  are  told  that  the  king  did 
away  with  the  high  places  and  the  symbols  of  idolatrous 
worship,  and  that,  because  Judah  had  thus  sought 
Jehovah,  He  gave  them  rest.  The  deliverance  from 
Zerah  is  another  mark  of  Divine  favour.  And  yet  in 
the  fifteenth  chapter  Asa,  in  obedience  to  prophetic 
admonition,  takes  away  the  abominations  from  his 
dominions,  as  if  there  had  been  no  previous  reformation, 
but  we  are  told  that  the  high  places  were  not  taken  out 
of  Israel.  The  context  would  naturally  suggest  that 
Israel  here  means  Asa's  kingdom,  as  the  true  Israel  of 
God  ;  but  as  the  verse  is  borrowed  from  the  book  of 
Kings,  and  "  out  of  Israel  "  is  an  editorial  addition 
made    by   the  chronicler,    it    is    probably    intended    to 


346  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

harmonise  the  borrowed  verse  with  the  chronicler's 
previous  statement  that  Asa  did  away  with  the  high 
places.  If  so,  we  must  understand  that  Israel  means 
the  northern  kingdom,  from  which  the  high  places 
had  not  been  removed,  though  Judah  had  been  purged 
from  these  abominations.  But  here,  as  often  elsewhere, 
Chronicles  taken  alone  affords  no  explanation  of  its 
inconsistencies. 

Again,  in  Asa's  first  reformation  he  commanded  Judah 
to  seek  Jehovah  and  to  do  the  Law  and  the  command- 
ments ;  and  accordingly  Judah  sought  the  Lord. 
Moreover,  Abijah,  about  seventeen  years  ^  before  Asa's 
second  reformation,  made  it  his  special  boast  that  Judah 
had  not  forsaken  Jehovah,  but  had  priests  ministering 
unto  Jehovah,  "  the  sons  of  Aaron  and  the  Levites  in 
their  work."  During  Rehoboam's  reign  of  seventeen 
years  Jehovah  was  duly  honoured  for  the  first  three 
years,  and  again  after  Shishak's  invasion  in  the  fifth 
year  of  Rehoboam,  So  that  for  the  previous  thirty  or 
forty  years  the  due  worship  of  Jehovah  had  only  been 
interrupted  by  occasional  lapses  into  disobedience. 
But  now  the  prophet  Oded  holds  before  this  faithful 
people  the  warning  example  of  the  "  long  seasons  "  when 
Israel  was  without  the  true  God,  and  without  a  teaching 
priest,  and  without  law.  And  yet  previously  Chronicles 
supplies  an  unbroken  list  of  high-priests  from  Aaron 
downwards.  In  response  to  Oded's  appeal,  the  king 
and  people  set  about  the  work  of  reformation  as  if  they 
had  tolerated  some  such  neglect  of  God,  the  priests, 
and  the  Law  as  the  prophet  had  described. 

Another  minor  discrepancy  is  found  in  the  statement 


'  The  second  reformation  is  dated  early  in  Asa's  fifteenth  year,  and 
/tbijah  only  reigned  three  years. 


2  Chroii.  xiv.-xvi.J       ASA  :    DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  347 

that  "  the  heart  of  Asa  was  perfect  all  his  days  "  ;  this 
is  reproduced  verbatim  from  the  book  of  Kings. 
Immediately  afterwards  the  chronicler  relates  the  evil 
doings  of  Asa  in  the  closing  years  of  his  reign. 

Such  contradictions  render  it  impossible  to  give  a 
complete  and  continuous  exposition  of  Chronicles  that 
shall  be  at  the  same  time  consistent.  Nevertheless 
they  are  not  without  their  value  for  the  Christian 
student.  They  aftbrd  evidence  of  the  good  faith  of  the 
chronicler.  His  contradictions  are  clearly  due  to  his 
use  of  independent  and  discrepant  sources,  and  not  to 
any  tampering  with  the  statements  of  his  authorities. 
They  are  also  an  indication  that  the  chronicler  attaches 
much  more  importance  to  spiritual  edification  than  to 
historical  accuracy.  When  he  seeks  to  set  before  his 
contemporaries  the  higher  nature  and  better  life  of  the 
great  national  heroes,  and  thus  to  provide  them  with  an 
ideal  of  kingship,  he  is  scrupulously  and  painfully 
careful  to  remove  everything  that  would  weaken  the 
force  of  the  lesson  which  he  is  trying  to  teach  ;  but  he  is 
comparatively  indifferent  to  accuracy  of  historical  detail. 
When  his  authorities  contradict  each  other  as  to  the 
number  or  the  date  of  Asa's  reformations,  or  even  the 
character  of  his  later  years,  he  does  not  hesitate  to 
place  the  two  narratives  side  by  side  and  practically  to 
draw  lessons  from  both.  The  work  of  the  chronicler 
and  its  presence  with  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Synoptic 
Gospels  in  the  sacred  canon  imply  an  emphatic  declara- 
tion of  the  judgment  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Church 
that  detailed  historical  accuracy  is  not  a  necessary 
consequence  of  inspiration.  In  expounding  this  second 
narrative  of  a  reformation  by  Asa,  we  shall  make  no 
attempt  at  complete  harmony  with  the  rest  of  Chronicles  ; 
,any   inconsistency   between   the   exposition   here   and 


348  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

elsewhere  will  simply  arise  from  a  faithful  adherence  to 
our  text. 

The  occasion  then  of  Asa's  second  reformation  ^  was 
as  follows :  Asa  was  returning  in  triumph  from  his 
great  defeat  of  Zerah,  bringing  with  him  substantial 
fruits  of  victory  in  the  shape  of  abundant  spoil. 
Wealth  and  power  had  proved  a  snare  to  David  and 
Rehoboam,  and  had  involved  them  in  grievous  sin.  Asa 
might  also  have  succumbed  to  the  temptations  of 
prosperity ;  but,  by  a  special  Divine  grace  not  vouch- 
safed to  his  predecessors,  he  was  guarded  against 
danger  by  a  prophetic  warning.  At  the  very  moment 
when  Asa  might  have  expected  to  be  greeted  by 
the  acclamations  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
when  the  king  would  be  elate  with  the  sense  of  Divine 
favour,  military  success,  and  popular  applause,  the 
prophet's  admonition  checked  the  undue  exaltation 
which  might  have  hurried  Asa  into  presumptuous  sin. 
Asa  and  his  people  were  not  to  presume  upon  their 
privilege ;  its  continuance  was  altogether  dependent 
upon  their  continued  obedience  :  if  they  fell  into  sin, 
the  rewards  of  their  former  loyalty  would  vanish  like 
fairy  gold.  "  Hear  ye  me,  Asa,  and  all  Judah  and 
Benjamin  :  Jehovah  is  with  you  while  ye  be  with  Him  ; 
and  if  ye  seek  Him,  He  will  be  found  of  you  ;  but  if 
ye  forsake  Him,  He  will  forsake  you."  This  lesson 
was  enforced  from  the  earlier  history  of  Israel.  The 
following  verses  are  virtually  a  summary  of  the  history 
of  the  judges : — 

"  Now  for  long  seasons  Israel  was  without  the  true 
God,  and  without  teaching  priest,  and  without  law." 

'  XV.,  based  upon  i  Kings  xv.  13-15,  but  the  great  bulk  of  the 
chapter  is  peculiar  to  Chionicles ;  the  original  passage  from  Kings  is 
reproduced,  with  slight  changes  in  vv.  16-18. 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]       ,1SA  :   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  349 

Judges  tells  how  again  and  again  Israel  fell  away 
from  Jehovah.  *'  But  when  in  their  distress  they  turned 
unto  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  and  sought  Him,  He 
was  found  of  them." 

Oded's  address  is  very  similar  to  another  and 
somewhat  fuller  summary  of  the  history  of  the  judges, 
contained  in  Samuel's  farewell  to  the  people,  in  which  he 
reminded  them  how  when  they  forgot  Jehovah,  their 
God,  He  sold  them  into  the  hand  of  their  enemies,  and 
when  they  cried  unto  Jehovah,  He  sent  Zerubbabel, 
and  Barak,  and  Jephthah,  and  Samuel,  and  delivered 
them  out  of  the  hand  of  their  enemies  on  every  side, 
and  they  dwelt  in  safet}^-^  Oded  proceeds  to  other 
characteristics  of  the  period  of  the  judges  :  **  There 
was  no  peace  to  him  that  went  out,  nor  to  him 
that  came  in  ;  but  great  vexations  were  upon  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  lands.  And  they  were  broken  in 
pieces,  nation  against  nation  and  city  against  city,  for 
God  did  vex  them  with  all  adversity." 

Deborah's  song  records  great  vexations  :  the  high- 
ways were  unoccupied,  and  the  travellers  walked 
through  by-ways  ;  the  rulers  ceased  in  Israel ;  Gideon 
"  threshed  wheat  by  the  winepress  to  hide  it  from  the 
Midianites."  The  breaking  of  nation  against  nation 
and  city  against  city  will  refer  to  the  destruction  of 
Succoth  and  Penuel  by  Gideon,  the  sieges  of  Shechem 
and  Thebez  by  Abimelech,  the  massacre  of  the 
Ephraimites  by  Jephthah,  and  the  civil  war  between 
Benjamin  and  the  rest  of  Israel  and  the  consequent 
destruction  of  Jabesh-gilead." 

'   I   Sam.  xii.  9-II.     ''Barak"  with   LXX.  and  Peshito  ;  Masoretic 
text  has  "  Bedan." 

^  Judges  V.  6,  7  ;  vi.  11;  viii.  15-17;  ix. ;  xii.  I-7 ;  xx. ;  xxi. 


3SO  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

"But,"  said  Oded,  "be  ye  strong,  and  let  not  your 
hands  be  slack,  for  your  work  shall  be  rewarded." 
Oded  implies  that  abuses  were  prevalent  in  Judah 
which  might  spread  and  corrupt  the  whole  people,  so 
as  to  draw  down  upon  them  the  wrath  of  God  and 
plunge  them  into  all  the  miseries  of  the  times  of  the 
judges.  These  abuses  were  wide-spread,  supported  by 
powerful  interests  and  numerous  adherents.  The  queen- 
mother,  one  of  the  most  important  personages  in  an 
Eastern  state,  was  herself  devoted  to  heathen  observ- 
ances. Their  suppression  needed  courage,  energy,  and 
pertinacity ;  but  if  they  were  resolutely  grappled  with, 
Jehovah  would  reward  the  efforts  of  His  servants  with 
success,  and  Judah  would  enjoy  prosperity.  Accordingly 
Asa  took  courage  and  put  away  the  abominations  out 
of  Judah  and  Benjamin  and  the  cities  he  held  in 
Ephraim.  The  abominations  were  the  idols  and  all 
the  cruel  and  obscene  accompaniments  of  heathen 
worship.^  In  the  prophet's  exhortation  to  be  strong, 
and  not  be  slack,  and  in  the  corresponding  state- 
ment that  Asa  took  courage,  we  have  a  hint  for  all 
reformers.  Neither  Oded  nor  Asa  underrated  the 
serious  nature  of  the  task  before  them.  They  counted 
the  cost,  and  with  open  eyes  and  full  knowledge  eon- 
fronted  the  evil  they  meant  to  eradicate.  The  full 
significance  of  the  chronicler's  language  is  only  seen 
when  we  remember  what  preceded  the  prophet's  appeal 
to  Asa.  The  captain  of  half  a  million  soldiers,  the 
conqueror  of  a  million  Ethiopians  with  three  hundred 
chariots,  has  to  take  courage  before  he  can  bring 
himself  to  put  away  the  abominations  out  of  his  own 
dominions.     Military  machinery  is  more  readily  created 

'  Cf.  I  Kings  XV.  12. 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]       ASA  :   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  351 

than  national  righteousness  ;  it  is  easier  to  slaughter 
one's  neighbours  than  to  let  light  into  the  dark  places 
that  are  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty  ;  and  vigorous 
foreign  policy  is  a  poor  substitute  for  good  administra- 
tion. The  principle  has  its  application  to  the  individual. 
The  beam  in  our  own  eye  seems  more  difficult  to  extract 
than  the  mote  in  our  brother's,  and  a  man  often  needs 
more  moral  courage  to  reform  himself  than  to  denounce 
other  people's  sins  or  urge  them  to  accept  salvation. 
Most  ministers  could  confirm  from  their  own  experience 
Portia's  saying,  "  I  can  easier  teach  twenty  what  were 
good  to  be  done  than  be  one  of  the  tv/enty  to  follow 
mine  own  teaching." 

Asa's  reformation  was  constructive  as  well  as 
destructive;  the  toleration  of  "abominations"  had 
diminished  the  zeal  of  the  people  for  Jehovah,  and 
even  the  altar  of  Jehovah  before  the  porch  of  the  Temple 
had  suffered  from  neglect :  it  was  now  renewed,  and 
Asa  assembled  the  people  for  a  great  festival.  Under 
Rehoboam  man}^  pious  Israelites  had  left  the  northern 
kingdom  to  dwell  where  they  could  freely  worship  at 
the  Temple ;  under  Asa  there  was  a  new  migration, 
"  for  they  fell  to  him  out  of  Israel  in  abundance  when 
they  saw  that  Jehovah  his  God  was  with  him."  And 
so  it  came  about  that  in  the  great  assembly  which  Asa 
gathered  together  at  Jerusalem  not  only  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  but  also  Ephraim,  Manasseh,  and  Simeon, 
were  represented.  The  chronicler  has  alread}'^  told  us 
that  after  the  return  from  the  Captivity  some  of  the 
children  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  dwelt  at  Jerusalem 
with  the  children  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,^  and  he  is 
always  careful  to  note  any  settlement  of  members  of 

1  Chrou.  ix.  ;. 


352  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

the  ten  tribes  in  Judah  or  any  acquisition  of  northern 
territory  by  the  kings  of  Judah.  Such  facts  illustrated 
his  doctrine  that  Judah  was  the  true  spiritual  Israel, 
the  real  8oyB€Kd(f>v\ov,  or  twelve-tribed  whole,  of  the 
chosen  people. 

Asa's  festival  was  held  in  the  third  month  of  his 
fifteenth  year,  the  month  Sivan,  corresponding  roughly 
to  our  June.  The  Feast  of  Weeks,  at  which  first-fruits 
v/ere  offered,  fell  in  this  month  ;  and  his  festival  was 
probably  a  special  celebration  of  this  feast.  The 
sacrifice  of  seven  hundred  oxen  and  seven  thousand 
sheep  out  of  the  spoil  taken  from  the  Ethiopians  and 
their  allies  might  be  considered  a  kind  of  first-fruits. 
The  people  pledged  themselves  most  solemnly  to  per- 
manent obedience  to  Jehovah ;  this  festival  and  its 
offerings  were  to  be  first-fruits  or  earnest  of  future 
loyalty.  "  They  entered  into  a  covenant  to  seek 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  their  fathers,  with  all  their  heart 
and  with  all  their  soul ;  .  .  .  they  sware  unto  Jehovah 
with  a  loud  voice,  and  with  shouting,  and  with  trumpets, 
and  with  cornets."  The  observance  of  this  covenant 
was  not  to  be  left  to  the  uncertainties  of  individual 
loyalty ;  the  community  were  to  be  on  their  guard 
against  offenders,  Achans  who  might  trouble  Israel. 
According  to  the  stern  law  of  the  Pentateuch/  "who- 
soever would  not  seek  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel, 
should  be  put  to  death,  whether  small  or  great,  whether 
man  or  woman."  The  seeking  of  Jehovah,  so  far  as 
it  could  be  enforced  by  penalties,  must  have  consisted 
in  external  observances ;  and  the  usual  proof  that  a 
man  did  not  seek  Jehovah  would  be  found  in  his  seek- 
ing other  gods  and  taking  part  in  heathen  rites.     Such 

'  Exod.  xxii.:  20 ;  Deut.  xiii.  5,  9,  is. 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]       ASA  :  DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  353 

apostacy  was  not  merely  an  ecclesiastical  offence  :  it 
involved  immorality  and  a  falling  away  from  patriotism. 
The  pious  Jew  could  no  more  tolerate  heathenism  than 
we  could  tolerate  in  England  religions  that  sanctioned 
polygamy  or  suttee. 

Having  thus  entered  into  covenant  with  Jehovah, 
*'all  Judah  rejoiced  at  their  oath  because  the}^  had 
sworn  with  all  their  heart,  and  sought  Him  with  their 
whole  desire,"  At  the  beginning,  no  doubt,  they,  like 
their  king,  '*  took  courage  "  ;  they  addressed  themselves 
with  reluctance  and  apprehension  to  an  unwelcome  and 
hazardous  enterprise.  They  now  rejoiced  over  the 
Divine  grace  that  had  inspired  their  efforts  and  been 
manifested  in  their  courage  and  devotion,  over  the 
happy  issue  of  their  enterprise,  and  over  the  universal 
enthusiasm  for  Jehovah ;  and  He  set  the  seal  of  His 
approval  upon  their  gladness.  He  v/as  found  of  them, 
and  Jehovah  gave  them  rest  round  about,  so  that  there 
was  no  more  war  for  twenty  years  :  unto  the  thirty-fifth 
year  of  Asa's  reign.  It  is  an  unsavoury  task  to  put 
away  abominations  :  many  foul  nests  of  unclean  birds 
are  disturbed  in  the  process ;  men  would  not  choose 
to  have  this  particular  cross  laid  upon  them,  but  only 
those  who  take  up  their  cross  and  follow  Christ  can 
hope  to  enter  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord. 

The  narrative  of  this  second  reformation  is  completed 
by  the  addition  of  details  borrowed  from  the  book  of 
Kings.  The  chronicler  next  recounts  how  in  the  thirty- 
sixth  year  of  Asa's  reign  Baasha  began  to  fortify 
Ramah  as  an  outpost  against  Judah,  but  was  forced  to 
abandon  his  undertaking  by  the  intervention  of  the 
Syrian  king,  Benhadad,  whom  Asa  hired  with  his  own 
treasures  and  those  of  the  Temple ;  whereupon  Asa 
carried  off  Baa&ha's  stones  and  timber  and  built  Geba 

23 


354  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

and  Mizpah  as  Jewish  outposts  against  Israel.  With 
the  exception  of  the  date  and  a  few  minor  changes,  the 
narrative  so  far  is  taken  verbatim  from  the  book  of 
Kings.  The  chronicler,  like  the  author  of  the  priestly 
document  of  the  Pentateuch,  was  anxious  to  provide 
his  readers  with  an  exact  and  complete  system  of 
chronology ;  he  was  the  Ussher  or  Clinton  of  his 
generation.  His  date  of  the  war  against  Baasha  is 
probably  based  upon  an  interpretation  of  the  source 
used  for  chap.  xv.  ;  the  first  reformation  secured  a 
rest  of  ten  years,  the  second  and  more  thorough 
reformation  a  rest  exactly  twice  as  long  as  the  first. 
In  the  interest  of  these  chronological  references,  the 
chronicler  has  sacrificed  a  statement  twice  repeated  in 
the  book  of  Kings  :  that  there  was  war  between  Asa 
and  Baasha  all  their  days.  As  Baasha  came  to  the 
throne  in  Asa's  third  year,  the  statement  of  the  book  of 
Kings  would  have  seemed  to  contradict  the  chronicler's 
assertion  that  there  was  no  war  from  the  fifteenth  to 
the  thirty-fifth  year  of  Asa's  reign.-^ 

After  his  victory  over  Zerah,  Asa  received  a  Divine 
message^  which  somewhat  checked  the  exuberance  of 
his  triumph  ;  a  similar  message  awaited  him  after  his 
successful  expedition  to  Ramah.  By  Oded  Jehovah 
had  warned  Asa,  but  now  He  commissioned  Hanani 
the  seer  to  pronounce  a  sentence  of  condemnation. 
The  ground  of  the  sentence  was  that  Asa  had  not 
relied  on  Jehovah,  but  on  the  king  of  Syria. 

Here  the  chronicler  echoes  one  of  the  key-notes  of 
the  great  prophets.  Isaiah  had  protested  against  the 
alliance  which  Ahaz  concluded  with  Assyria  in  order  to 
obtain    assistance  against  the   united  onset    of   Rezin, 

'  I  Kings  XV,  i6,  32,  33.  -'    xvi.  7-10,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


2  Chron.  xiv  -xvi.]      ASA  :   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  355 


king  of  Syria,  and  Pekah,  king  of  Israel,  and  had 
predicted  that  Jehovah  would  bring  upon  Ahaz,  his 
people,  and  his  dynasty  days  that  had  not  come  since 
the  disruption,  even  the  king  of  Assyria.^  When  this 
prediction  was  fulfilled,  and  the  thvuidercloud  of  Assyrian 
invasion  darkened  all  the  land  of  Judah,  the  Jews,  in 
their  lack  of  faith,  looked  to  Egypt  for  deliverance ; 
and  again  Isaiah  denounced  the  foreign  alliance : 
"Woe  to  them  that  go  down  to  Egypt  for  help,  .  .  . 
but  they  look  not  unto  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  neither 
seek  Jehovah ;  .  .  .  the  strength  of  Pharaoh  shall 
be  your  shame,  and  the  trust  in  the  shadow  of  Egypt 
your  confusion."^  So  Jeremiah  in  his  turn  protested 
against  a  revival  of  the  Egyptian  alliance  :  **  Thou  shalt 
be  ashamed  of  Egypt  also,  as  thou  wast  ashamed  of 
Assyria."  ^ 

In  their  successive  calamities  the  Jews  could  derive  no 
comfort  from  a  study  of  previous  history ;  the  pretext 
upon  which  each  of  their  oppressors  had  intervened  in 
the  affairs  of  Palestine  had  been  an  invitation  from 
Judah.  In  their  trouble  they  had  sought  a  remedy 
worse  than  the  disease ;  the  consequences  of  this 
political  quackery  had  always  demanded  still  more 
desperate  and  fatal  medicines.  Freedom  from  the 
border  raids  of  the  Ephraimites  was  secured  at  the 
price  of  the  ruthless  devastations  of  Hazael ;  deliverance 
from  Rezin  only  led  to  the  wholesale  massacres  and 
spoliation  of  Sennacherib.  Foreign  alliance  was  an 
opiate  that  had  to  be  taken  in  continually  increasing 
doses,  till  at  last  it  caused  the  death  of  the  patient. 

Nevertheless  these  are  not  the  lessons  which  the 
seer    seeks    to    impress    upon    Asa.      Hanani   takes   a 

'   Isa.  vii.  17.  ^  Isa.  xxxi.  I ;  xxx.  3.  ^  Jer.  ii.  36. 


356  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

loftier  tone.  He  does  not  tell  him  that  his  unholy 
alliance  with  Benhadad  was  the  first  of  a  chain  of 
circumstances  that  would  end  in  the  ruin  of  Judah. 
Few  generations  are  greatly  disturbed  by  the  prospect 
of  the  ruin  of  their  country  in  the  distant  future  :  "  After 
us  the  Deluge."  Even  the  pious  king  Hezekiah,  when 
told  of  the  coming  captivity  of  Judah,  found  much 
comfort  in  the  thought  that  there  should  be  peace  and 
truth  in  his  days.  After  the  manner  of  the  prophets, 
Hanani's  message  is  concerned  with  his  own  times. 
To  his  large  faith  the  alliance  with  Syria  presented 
itself  chiefly  as  the  loss  of  a  great  opportunity.  Asa 
had  deprived  himself  of  the  privilege  of  fighting  with 
Syria,  whereby  Jehovah  would  have  found  fresh  occa- 
sion to  manifest  His  infinite  power  and  His  gracious 
favour  towards  Judah.  Had  there  been  no  alliance 
with  Judah,  the  restless  and  warlike  king  of  Syria 
might  have  joined  Baasha  to  attack  Asa ;  another 
million  of  the  heathen  and  other  hundreds  of  their 
chariots  would  have  been  destroyed  by  the  resistless 
might  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  the 
great  object-lesson  he  had  received  in  the  defeat  of 
Zerah,  Asa  had  not  thought  of  Jehovah  as  his  All}'. 
He  had  forgotten  the  all-observing,  all-controlling 
providence  of  Jehovah,  and  had  thought  it  necessary 
to  supplement  the  Divine  protection  by  hiring  a 
heathen  king  with  the  treasures  of  the  Temple ;  and  yet 
"  the  eyes  of  Jehovah  run  to  and  fro  throughout  the 
whole  earth,  to  show  Himself  strong  in  behalf  of  them 
whose  heart  is  perfect  toward  Him."  With  this  thought, 
that  the  eyes  of  Jehovah  run  to  and  fro  throughout  the 
earth,  Zechariah  ^  comforted  the  Jews  in  the  dark  days 

'  Zech.  iv.  lo. 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]      ASA  :   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  357 

between  the  Return  and  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple. 
Possibly  during  Asa's  twenty  years  of  tranquillity  his 
faith  had  become  enfeebled  for  want  of  any  severe 
discipline.  It  is  only  with  a  certain  reserve  that  we  can 
venture  to  pray  that  the  Lord  will  "  take  from  our  lives 
the  strain  and  stress."  The  discipline  of  helplessness 
and  dependence  preserves  the  consciousness  of  God's 
loving  providence.  The  resources  of  Divine  grace  are 
not  altogether  intended  for  our  personal  comfort ;  we 
are  to  tax  them  to  the  utmost,  in  the  assurance  that 
God  will  honour  all  our  drafts  upon  His  treasury. 
The  great  opportunities  of  twenty  years  of  peace  and 
prosperity  were  not  given  to  Asa  to  lay  up  funds  with 
which  to  bribe  a  heathen  king,  and  then,  with  this 
reinforcement  of  his  accumulated  resources  to  accom- 
plish the  mighty  enterprise  of  stealing  Baasha's  stones 
and  timber  and  building  the  walls  of  a  couple  of 
frontier  fortresses.  With  such  a  history  and  such 
opportunities  behind  him,  Asa  should  have  felt  him- 
self competent,  with  Jehovah's  help,  to  deal  with  both 
Baasha  and  Benhadad,  and  should  have  had  courage 
to  confront  them  both. 

Sin  like  Asa's  has  been  the  supreme  apostacy  of 
the  Church  in  all  her  branches  and  through  all  her 
generations  :  Christ  has  been  denied,  not  by  lack  of 
devotion,  but  by  want  of  faith.  Champions  of  the 
truth,  reformers  and  guardians  of  the  Temple,  like  Asa, 
have  been  eager  to  attach  to  their  holy  cause  the  cruel 
prejudices  of  ignorance  and  folly,  the  greed  and 
vindictiveness  of  selfish  men.  They  have  feared  lest 
these  potent  forces  should  be  arrayed  amongst  the 
enemies  of  the  Church  and  her  Master.  Sects  and 
parties  have  eagerly  contested  the  privilege  of  coun- 
selling   a  profligate  prince  how    he  should  satisfy  his 


558  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


thirst  for  blood  and  exercise  his  wanton  and  brutal 
insolence ;  the  Church  has  countenanced  almost  every 
iniquity  and  striven  to  quench  by  persecution  every 
new  revelation  of  the  Spirit,  in  order  to  conciliate 
vested  interests  and  established  authorities.  It  has 
even  been  suggested  that  national  Churches  and 
great  national  vices  were  so  intimately  allied  that 
their  supporters  were  content  that  they  should  stand  or 
fall  together.  On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of 
reform  have  not  been  slow  to  appeal  to  popular  jealousy 
and  to  aggravate  the  bitterness  of  social  feuds.  To 
Hanani  the  seer  had  come  the  vision  of  a  larger  and 
purer  faith,  that  would  rejoice  to  see  the  cause  of  Satan 
supported  by  all  the  evil  passions  and  selfish  interests 
that  are  his  natural  allies.  He  was  assured  that  the 
greater  the  host  of  Satan,  the  more  signal  and 
complete  would  be  Jehovah's  triumph.  If  we  had  his 
faith,  we  should  not  be  anxious  to  bribe  Satan  to  cast 
out  Satan,  but  should  come  to  understand  that  the  full 
muster  of  hell  assailing  us  in  front  is  less  dangerous 
than  a  few  companies  of  diabolic  mercenaries  in  our 
own  array.  In  the  former  case  the  overthrow  of  the 
powers  of  darkness  is  more  certain  and  more  complete. 
The  evil  consequences  of  Asa's  policy  were  not 
confined  to  the  loss  of  a  great  opportunity,  nor  were 
his  treasures  the  only  price  he  was  to  pay  for  fortifying 
Geba  and  Mizpah  with  Baasha's  building  materials. 
Hanani  declared  to  him  that  from  henceforth  he  should 
have  wars.  This  purchased  alliance  was  only  the 
beginning,  and  not  the  end,  of  troubles.  Instead  of  the 
complete  and  decisive  victory  which  had  disposed  of 
the  Ethiopians  once  for  all,  Asa  and  his  people  were 
harassed  and  exhausted  by  continual  warfare.  The 
Christian  life  would  have  more  decisive  victories,  and 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]      ^ISA  :   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  359 

would  be  less  of  a  perpetual  and  wearing  struggle,  if 
we  had  faith  to  refrain  from  the  use  of  doubtful  means 
for  high  ends. 

Oded's  message  of  warning  had  been  accepted  and 
obeyed,  but  Asa  was  now  no  longer  docile  to  Divine 
discipline.  David  and  Hezekiah  submitted  themselves 
to  the  censure  of  Gad  and  Isaiah ;  but  Asa  was  wroth 
with  Hanani  and  put  him  in  prison,  because  the 
prophet  had  ventured  to  rebuke  him.  His  sin  against 
God  corrupted  even  his  civil  administration  ;  and 
the  ally  of  a  heathen  king,  the  persecutor  of  God's 
prophet,  also  oppressed  the  people.  Three  years  ^  after 
the  repulse  of  Baasha  a  new  punishment  fell  upon 
Asa  :  his  feet  became  grievously  diseased.  Still  he  did 
not  humble  himself,  but  was  guilty  of  further  sin^:  he 
sought  not  Jehovah,  but  the  phj^sicians.  It  is  probable 
that  to  seek  Jehovah  concerning  disease  was  not  merely 
a  matter  of  worship.  Reuss  has  suggested  that  the 
legitimate  practice  of  medicine  belonged  to  the  schools 
of  the  prophets  ;  but  it  seems  quite  as  likely  that  in 
Judah,  as  in  Egypt,  any  existing  knowledge  of  the 
art  of  healing  was  to  be  found  among  the  priests. 
Conversely  physicians  who  were  neither  priests  nor 
prophets  of  Jehovah  were  almost  certain  to  be  ministers 
of  idolatrous  worship  and  magicians.  They  failed 
apparently  to  relieve  their  patient  :  Asa  lingered  in 
pain  and  weakness  for  two  years,  and  then  died. 
Possibly  the  sufferings  of  his  latter  days  had  protected 
his  people  from  further  oppression,  and  had  at  once 
appealed  to  their  sympathy  and  removed  any  cause 
for  resentment.     When  he  died,  they  only  remembered 

'  The  date,  as  before,  is  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
^  xvi.  126,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


36o  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

his  virtues  and  achievements ;  and  buried  him  with 
royal  magnificence,  with  sweet  odours  and  divers  kinds 
of  spices ;  and  made  a  very  great  burning  for  him, 
probably  of  aromatic  woods. 

In  discussing  the  chronicler's  picture  of  the  good 
kings,  we  have  noticed  that,  while  Chronicles  and  the 
book  of  Kings  agree  in  mentioning  the  misfortunes 
which  as  a  rule  darkened  their  closing  years.  Chronicles 
in  each  case  records  some  lapse  into  sin  as  preceding 
these  misfortunes.  From  the  theological  standpoint  of 
the  chronicler's  school,  these  invidious  records  of  the 
sins  of  good  kings  were  necessary  in  order  to  account 
for  their  misfortunes.  The  devout  student  of  the  book 
of  Kings  read  with  surprise  that  of  the  pious  kings 
who  had  been  devoted  to  Jehovah  and  His  temple, 
whose  acceptance  by  Him  had  been  shown  by  the 
victories  vouchsafed  to  them,  one  had  died  of  a 
painful  disease  in  his  feet,  another  in  a  lazar-house, 
two  had  been  assassinated,  and  one  slain  in  battle. 
Why  had  faith  and  devotion  been  so  ill  rewarded  ? 
Was  it  not  vain  to  serve  God  ?  What  profit  was  there 
in  keeping  His  ordinances  ?  The  chronicler  felt  him- 
self fortunate  in  discovering  amongst  his  later  authori- 
ties additional  information  which  explained  these 
mysteries  and  justified  the  ways  of  God  to  man.  Even 
the  good  kings  had  not  been  without  reproach,  and 
their  misfortunes  had  been  the  righteous  judgment  on 
their  sins. 

The  principle  which  guided  the  chronicler  in  this 
selection  of  material  was  that  sin  was  always  punished 
by  complete,  immediate,  and  manifest  retribution  in 
this  life,  and  that  conversely  all  misfortune  was  the 
punishment  of  sin.  There  is  a  simplicity  and  apparent 
justice  about  this  theory  that  has  always  made  it  the 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]      ASA  :  DIVINE  RETRIBUTION  361 

leading  doctrine  of  a  certain  stage  of  moral  develop- 
ment. It  was  probably  the  popular  religious  teaching  in 
Israel  from  early  days  till  the  time  when  our  Lord  found 
it  necessary  to  protest  against  the  idea  that  the  Galilaeans 
whose  blood  Pilate  had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices 
were  sinners  above  all  Galilaeans  because  they  had 
suffered  these  things,  or  that  the  eighteen  upon  whom 
the  tower  in  Siloam  fell,  and  killed  them,  were  offenders 
above  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  This  doctrine 
of  ]-etribution  was  current  among  the  Greeks.  When 
terrible  calamities  fell  upon  men,  their  neighbours 
supposed  these  to  be  the  punishment  of  specially 
heinous  crimes.  When  the  Spartan  king  Cleomenes 
committed  suicide,  the  public  mind  in  Greece  at  once 
inquired  of  what  particular  sin  he  had  thus  paid  the 
penalty.  The  horrible  circumstances  of  his  death  were 
attributed  to  the  wrath  of  some  offended  deity,  and  the 
cause  of  the  offence  was  sought  for  in  one  of  his  many 
acts  of  sacrilege.  Possibly  he  was  thus  punished 
because  he  had  bribed  the  priestess  of  the  Delphic 
oracle.  The  Athenians,  however,  believed  that  his 
sacrilege  had  consisted  in  cutting  down  trees  in  their 
sacred  grove  at  Eleusis ;  but  the  Argives  preferred  to 
hold  that  he  came  to  an  untimely  end  because  he  had 
set  fire  to  a  grove  sacred  to  their  eponymous  hero 
Argos.  Similarly,  when  in  the  course  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  war  the  iEginetans  were  expelled  from  their 
island,  this  calamity  was  regarded  as  a  punishment 
inflicted  upon  them  because  fifty  years  before  they  had 
dragged  av/ay  and  put  to  death  a  suppliant  who  had 
caught  hold  of  the  handle  of  the  door  of  the  temple 
of  Demeter  Theomophorus.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
wonderful  v/ay  in  which  on  four  or  five  occasions  the 
ravages  of  pestilence  delivered  Dionysius  of  Syracuse 


362  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


from  his  Carthaginian  enemies  was  attributed  by  his 
admiring  friends  to  the  favour  of  the  gods. 

Like  many  other  simple  and  logical  doctrines,  this 
Jewish  theory  of  retribution  came  into  collision  with 
obvious  facts,  and  seemed  to  set  the  law  of  God  at 
variance  with  the  enlightened  conscience.  "  Beneath 
the  simplest  forms  of  truth  the  subtlest  error  lurks." 
The  prosperity  of  the  wicked  and  the  sufferings  of 
the  righteous  were  a  standing  religious  difficulty  to 
the  devout  Israelite.  The  popular  doctrine  held  its 
ground  tenaciously,  supported  not  only  by  ancient 
prescription,  but  also  by  the  most  influential  classes 
in  society.  All  who  were  young,  robust,  wealthy, 
powerful,  or  successful  were  interested  in  maintaining 
a  doctrine  that  made  health,  riches,  rank,  and  success 
the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  righteousness.  Accord- 
ingly the  simplicity  of  the  original  doctrine  was  hedged 
about  with  an  ingenious  and  elaborate  apologetic.  The 
prosperity  of  the  wicked  was  held  to  be  only  for  a 
season  ;  before  he  died  the  judgment  of  God  would 
overtake  him.  It  was  a  mistake  to  speak  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  righteous:  these  very  sufferings  showed  that 
his  righteousness  was  only  apparent,  and  that  in  secret 
he  had  been  guilty  of  grievous  sin. 

Of  all  the  cruelty  inflicted  in  the  name  of  orthodoxy 
there  is  little  that  can  surpass  the  refined  torture  due 
to  this  Jewish  apologetic.  Its  cynical  teaching  met  the 
sufferer  in  the  anguish  of  bereavement,  in  the  pain  and 
depression  of  disease,  when  he  was  crushed  by  sudden 
and  ruinous  losses  or  publicly  disgraced  by  the  unjust 
sentence  of  a  venal  law-court.  Instead  of  receiving 
sympathy  and  help,  he  found  himself  looked  upon  as  a 
moral  outcast  and  pariah  on  account  of  his  misfortunes  ; 
when  he  most  needed  Divine  grace,  he  was  bidden  to 


2  Chron.  xiv.->:vi.]      ASA  :   DIVINE  RETRIBUTION  363 

regard  himself  as  a  special  object  of  the  wrath  of 
Jehovah.  If  his  orthodoxy  survived  his  calamities,  he 
would  review  his  past  life  with  morbid  retrospection, 
and  persuade  himself  that  he  had  indeed  been  guilty- 
above  all  other  sinners. 

The  book  of  Job  is  an  inspired  protest  against  the 
current  theory  of  retribution,  and  the  full  discussion  of 
the  question  belongs  to  the  exposition  of  that  book. 
But  the  narrative  of  Chronicles,  like  much  Church 
history  in  all  ages,  is  largely  controlled  by  the  contro- 
versial interests  of  the  school  from  which  it  emanated. 
In  the  hands  of  the  chronicler  the  story  of  the  kings 
of  Judah  is  told  in  such  a  way  that  it  becomes  a  polemic 
against  the  book  of  Job.  The  tragic  and  disgraceful 
death  of  good  kings  presented  a  crucial  difficulty  to  the 
chronicler's  theology.  A  good  man's  other  misfortunes 
might  be  compensated  for  by  prosperity  in  his  latter 
days ;  but  in  a  theory  of  retribution  which  required  a 
complete  satisfaction  of  justice  in  this  life  there  could 
be  no  compensation  for  a  dishonourable  death.  Hence 
the  chronicler's  anxiety  to  record  any  lapses  of  good 
kings  in  their  latter  days. 

The  criticism  and  correction  of  this  doctrine  belongs, 
as  we  have  said,  to  the  exposition  of  the  book  of  Job. 
Here  we  are  rather  concerned  to  discover  the  permanent 
truth  of  which  the  theory  is  at  once  an  imperfect  and 
exaggerated  expression.  To  begin  with,  there  are  sins 
which  bring  upon  the  transgressor  a  swift,  obvious,  and 
dramatic  punishment.  Human  law  deals  thus  with  some 
sins ;  the  laws  of  health  visit  others  with  a  similar 
severity ;  at  times  the  Divine  judgment  strikes  down 
men  and  nations  before  an  awe-stricken  world.  Amongst 
such  judgments  we  might  reckon  the  punishments  of 
royal    sins    so    frequent    in    the    pages    of  Chronicles. 


364  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

God's  judgments  are  not  usually  so  immediate  and 
manifest,  but  these  striking  instances  illustrate  and 
enforce  the  certain  consequences  of  sin.  We  are  deal- 
ing now  with  cases  in  which  God  was  set  at  nought ; 
and,  apart  from  Divine  grace,  the  votaries  of  sin  are 
bound  to  become  its  slaves  and  victims.  Ruskin  has 
said,  "  Medicine  often  fails  of  its  effect,  but  poison 
never ;  and  while,  in  summing  the  observation  of  past 
life  not  unwatchfully  spent,  I  can  truly  say  that  I  have 
a  thousand  times  seen  Patience  disappointed  of  her 
hope  and  Wisdom  of  her  aim,  I  have  never  yet  seen 
folly  fruitless  of  mischief,  nor  vice  conclude  but  in 
calamity,"  ^  Now  that  we  have  been  brought  into  a 
fuller  light  and  delivered  from  the  practical  dangers  of 
the  ancient  Israelite  doctrine,  we  can  afford  to  forget 
the  less  satisfactory  aspects  of  the  chronicler's  teaching, 
and  we  must  feel  grateful  to  him  for  enforcing  the 
salutary  and  necessary  lesson  that  sin  bnngs  mevi- 
table  punishment,  and  that  therefore,  whatever  present 
appearances  may  suggest,  "  the  world  was  certainly 
not  framed  for  the  lasting  convenience  of  hypocrites, 
libertines,  and  oppressors."  ^ 

Indeed,  the  consequences  of  sin  are  regular  and  exact ; 
and  the  judgments  upon  the  kings  of  Judah  in  Chronicles 
accurately  symbolise  the  operations  of  Divine  discipline. 
But  pain,  and  ruin,  and  disgrace  are  only  secondary 
elements  in  God's  judgments ;  and  most  often  they  are 
not  judgments  at  all.  They  have  their  uses  as  chastise- 
ments ;  but  if  we  dwell  upon  them  with  too  emphatic  an 
insistence,  men  suppose  that  pain  is  a  worse  evil  than 
sin,  and  that  sin  is  only  to  be  avoided  because  it 
causes    suffering    to    the    sinner.      The    reall}^  serious 

'   Time  mud  Tide,  xii.  67.  ^  George  Eliot,  Roinola,  xxi, 


2  Chron.  xiv.-xvi.]      ASA:   DIVINE   RETRIBUTION  365 

consequence  of  evil  acts  is  the  formation  and  con- 
firmation of  evil  character.  Herbert  Spencer  says  in 
his  Ft'rsi  Principles'^  "that  motion  once  set  up  along 
any  line  becomes  itself  a  cause  of  subsequent  motion 
along  that  Hne."  This  is  absolutely  true  in  moral  and 
spiritual  dynamics  :  every  wrong  thought,  feeling,  word, 
or  act,  every  failure  to  think,  feel,  speak,  or  act  rightly, 
at  once  alters  a  man's  character  for  the  worse.  Hence- 
forth he  will  find  it  easier  to  sin  and  more  difficult  to 
do  right ;  he  has  twisted  another  strand  into  the  cord 
of  habit :  and  though  each  may  be  as  fine  as  the  threads 
of  a  spider's  web,  in  time  there  will  be  cords  strong 
enough  to  have  bound  Samson  before  Delilah  shaved 
off  his  seven  locks.  This  is  the  true  punishment  of 
sin  :  to  lose  the  fine  instincts,  the  generous  impulses, 
and  the  nobler  ambitions  of  manhood,  and  become 
every  day  more  of  a  beast  and  a  devil. 

'  Part  II.,  Chap.  IX. 


CHAPTER    IV 

JEHOSHAPHAT—THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON- 
RESISTANCE 

2  Chron.  xvii.-xx. 

ASA  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Jehoshaphat,  and  his 
reign  began  even  more  auspiciously  ^  than  that  of 
Asa.  The  new  king  had  apparently  taken  warning 
from  the  misfortunes  of  Asa's  closing  years ;  and  as  he 
was  thirty-five  years  old  when  he  came  to  the  throne, 
he  had  been  trained  before  Asa  fell  under  the  Divine 
displeasure.  He  walked  in  the  first  ways  of  his  father 
David,  before  David  was  led  away  by  Satan  to  number 
Israel.  Jehoshaphat's  heart  was  lifted  up,  not  with 
foolish  pride,  like  Hezekiah's,  but  "  in  the  ways  of 
Jehovah."  He  sought  the  God  of  his  father,  and 
walked  in  God's  commandments,  and  was  not  led  astray 
by  the  evil  example  and  influence  of  the  kings  of  Israel, 
neither  did  he  seek  the  Baals.  While  Asa  had  been 
enfeebled  by  illness  and  alienated  from  Jehovah,  the 
high  places  and  the  Asherim  had  sprung  up  again  like 
a  crop  of  evil  weeds ;  but  Jehoshaphat  once  more 
removed  them.  According  to  the  chronicler,  this  re- 
moving of  high  places  was  a  very  labour  of  Sisyphus  : 
the  stone  was  no  sooner  rolled  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill 

'  xvii.,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 
366 


xvii.-xx.J     THE  DOCTRINE   OF  NON-RESISTANCE  367 

than  it  rolled  down  again.  Jehoshaphat  seems  to  have 
had  an  inkling  of  this  ;  he  felt  that  the  destruction  of 
idolatrous  sanctuaries  and  symbols  was  like  mowing 
down  wxeds  and  leaving  the  roots  in  the  soil.  Accord- 
ingly he  made  an  attempt  to  deal  more  radically  with 
the  evil :  he  would  take  away  the  inclination  as  well  as 
the  opportunity  for  corrupt  rites.  A  commission  of 
princes,  priests,  and  Levites  was  sent  throughout  all 
the  cities  of  Judah  to  instruct  the  people  in  the  law  of 
Jehovah.  Vice  will  always  find  opportunities ;  it  is 
little  use  to  suppress  evil  institutions  unless  the  people 
are  educated  out  of  evil  propensities.  If,  for  instance, 
every  public-house  in  England  were  closed  to-morrow, 
and  there  were  still  millions  of  throats  craving  for 
drink,  drunkenness  would  still  prevail,  and  a  new 
administration  would  promptly  reopen  gin-shops. 

Because  the  new  king  thus  earnestly  and  consistently 
sought  the  God  of  his  fathers,  Jehovah  was  with  him, 
and  established  the  kingdom  in  his  hand.  Jehoshaphat 
received  all  the  marks  of  Divine  favour  usually  bestowed 
upon  good  kings.  He  waxed  great  exceedingly ;  he 
had  many  fortresses,  an  immense  army,  and  much 
wealth ;  he  built  castles  and  cities  of  store  ;  he  had 
arsenals  for  the  supply  of  war  material  in  the  cities  of 
Judah.  And  these  cities,  together  with  other  defensible 
positions  and  the  border  cities  of  Ephraim  occupied  by 
Judah,  were  held  by  strong  garrisons.  While  David 
had  contented  himself  with  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  thousand  men  from  all  Israel,  and  Abijah  had  led 
forth  four  hundred  thousand,  and  Asa  five  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand,  there  waited  on  Jehoshaphat,  in 
addition  to  his  numerous  garrisons,  eleven  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  men.  Of  these  seven  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  were  men  of  Judah   in   three  divisions,  and 


368  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

three  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  were  Benjamites  in 
two  divisions.  Probably  the  stead}^  increase  of  the 
armies  of  Abijah,  Asa,  and  Jehoshaphat  symbolises  a 
proportionate  increase  of  Divine  favour. 

The  chronicler  records  the  names  of  the  captains  of 
the  five  divisions.  Two  of  them  are  singled  out  for 
special  commendation  :  Eliada  the  Benjamite  is  styled 
**  a  mighty  man  of  valour/'  and  of  the  Jewish  captain 
Amaziah  the  son  of  Zichri  it  is  said  that  he  offered 
either  himself  or  his  possessions  willingly  to  Jehovah, 
as  David  and  his  princes  had  offered,  for  the  building 
of  the  Temple.     The  devout  king  had  devout  officers. 

He  had  also  devoted  subjects.  All  Judah  brought  him 
presents,  so  that  he  had  great  riches  and  ample  means 
to  sustain  his  royal  power  and  splendour.  Moreover, 
as  in  the  case  of  Solomon  and  Asa,  his  piety  was 
rewarded  with  freedom  from  war :  "  The  fear  of 
Jehovah  fell  upon  all  the  kingdoms  round  about,  so 
that  they  made  no  war  against  Jehoshaphat."  Some  of 
his  weaker  neighbours  were  overawed  by  the  spectacle 
of  his  great  power  ;  the  Philistines  brought  him  presents 
and  tribute  money,  and  the  Arabians  immense  flocks  of 
rams  and  he-goats,  seven  thousand  seven  hundred  of 
each. 

Great  prosperity  had  the  usual  fatal  effect  upon 
Jehoshaphat's  character.  In  the  beginning  of  his  reign 
he  had  strengthened  himself  against  Israel  and  had 
refused  to  walk  in  their  ways ;  now  power  had 
developed  ambition,  and  he  sought  and  obtained  the 
honour  of  marrying  his  son  Jehoram  to  Athaliah  the 
daughter  of  Ahab,  the  mighty  and  magnificent  king  of 
Israel,  possibly  also  the  daughter  of  the  Phoenician 
princess  Jezebel,  the  devotee  of  Baal.  This  family  con- 
nection of  course  implied  political  alliance.    After  a  time 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE   OF  NON-RESISTANCE  369 

Jehoshaphat  went  down  to  visit  his  new  ally,  and  was 
hospitably  received.^ 

Then  follows  the  familiar  story  of  Micaiah  the  son 
of  Imlah,  the  disastrous  expedition  of  the  two  kings, 
and  the  death  of  Ahab,  almost  exactly  as  in  the  book 
of  Kings.  There  is  one  significant  alteration  :  both 
narratives  tell  us  how  the  Syrian  captains  attacked 
Jehoshaphat  because  they  took  him  for  the  king  of 
Israel  and  gave  up  their  pursuit  when  he  cried  out, 
andr^  they  discovered  |  their  mistake  ;  but  the  chronicler 
adds  the  explanation  that  Jehovah  helped  him  and 
God  moved  them  to  depart  from  him.  And  so  the 
master  of  more  than  a  million  soldiers  was  happy  in 
being  allowed  to  escape  on  account  of  his  insignifi- 
cance, and  returned  in  peace  to  Jerusalem.  Oded  and 
Hanani  had  met  his  predecessors  on  their  return  from 
victory ;  now  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani  ^  met  Jehoshaphat 
when  he  came  home  defeated.  Like  his  father,  the 
prophet  was  charged  with  a  message  of  rebuke.  An 
alliance  with  the  northern  kingdom  was  scarcely  less 
reprehensible  than  one  with  Syria  :  "  Shouldest  thou 
help  the  wicked,  and  love  them  that  hate  Jehovah  ? 
Jehovah  is  wroth  with  thee."  Asa's  previous  reforms 
were  not  allowed  to  mitigate  the  severity  of  his  condem- 
nation, but  Jehovah  was  more  merciful  to  Jehoshaphat. 
The  prophet  makes  mention  of  his  piety  and  his  destruc- 
tion of  idolatrous  symbols,  and  no  further  punishment 
is  inflicted  upon  him. 

The  chronicler's  addition  to  the  account  of  the  king's 
escape  from  the  Syrian  captains  reminds  us  that  God 
still  watches  over  and  protects  His  children  even  when 
they    are   in    the    very   act   of    sinning    against    Him. 

'  2  Chron.  xviii.  I-3.  ^  xix..i-3,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

24 


370  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Jehovah  knew  that  Jehoshaphat's  sinful  alliance  with 
Ahab  did  not  imply  complete  revolt  and  apostacy. 
Hence  doubtless  the  comparative  mildness  of  the 
prophet's  reproof. 

When  Jehu's  father  Hanani  rebuked  Asa,  the  king 
flew  into  a  passion,  and  cast  the  prophet  into  prison  ; 
Jehoshaphat  received  Jehu's  reproof  in  a  very  different 
spirit  ^  :  he  repented  himself,  and  found  a  new  zeal 
in  his  penitence.  Learning  from  his  own  experience 
the  proneness  of  the  human  heart  to  go  astray,  he 
went  out  himself  amongst  his  people  to  bring  them 
back  to  Jehovah ;  and  just  as  Asa  in  his  apostacy 
oppressed  his  people,  Jehoshaphat  in  his  renewed 
loyalty  to  Jehovah  showed  himself  anxious  for  good 
government.  He  provided  judges  in  all  the  walled 
towns  of  Judah,  with  a  court  of  appeal  at  Jerusalem ; 
he  solemnly  charged  them  to  remember  their  responsi- 
bility to  Jehovah,  to  avoid  bribery,  and  not  to  truckle 
to  the  rich  and  powerful.  Being  themselves  faithful  to 
Jehovah,  they  were  to  inculcate  a  like  obedience  and 
warn  the  people  not  to  sin  against  the  God  of  their 
fathers.  Jehoshaphat's  exhortation  to  his  new  judges 
concludes  with  a  sentence  whose  martial  resonance 
suggests  trial  by  combat  rather  than  the  peaceful  pro- 
ceedings of  a  law-court :  "  Deal  courageously,  and 
Jehovah  defend  the  right ! " 

The  principle  that  good  government  must  be  a 
necessary  consequence  of  piety  in  the  rulers  has  not 
been  so  uniformly  observed  in  later  times  as  in  the 
pages  of  Chronicles.  The  testimony  of  history  on 
this  point  is  not  altogether  consistent.  In  spite  of 
all    the    faults    of    the    orthodox    and    devout    Greek 

'  xix.  4-1 1,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON-RESISTANCE  371 

emperors  Theodosius  the  Great  and  Marcian,  their 
administration  rendered  important  services  to  the 
empire.  Alfred  the  Great  was  a  distinguished  states- 
man and  warrior  as  well  as  zealous  for  true  religion. 
St.  Louis  of  France  exercised  a  wise  control  over 
Church  and  state.  It  is  true  that  when  a  woman 
reproached  him  in  open  court  with  being  a  king  of 
friars,  of  priests,  and  of  clerks,  and  not  a  true  king  of 
France,  he  replied  with  saintly  meekness,  "  You  say 
true  !  It  has  pleased  the  Lord  to  make  me  king  ;  it 
had  been  well  if  it  had  pleased  Him  to  make  some  one 
king  who  had  better  ruled  the  realm."  ^  But  something 
must  be  allowed  for  the  modesty  of  the  saint ;  apart 
from  his  unfortunate  crusades,  it  would  have  been  diffi- 
cult for  France  or  even  Europe  to  have  furnished  a  more 
beneficent  sovereign.  On  the  other  hand,  Charlemagne's 
successor,  the  Emperor  Louis  the  Pious,  and  our  own 
kings  Edward  the  Confessor  and  the  saintly  Henry  VI., 
were  alike  feeble  and  inefficient ;  the  zeal  of  the  Spanish 
kings  and  their  kinswoman  Mary  Tudor  is  chiefly  re- 
membered for  its  ghastly  cruelty ;  and  in  comparatively 
recent  times  the  misgovernment  of  the  States  of  the 
Church  was  a  byword  throughout  Europe.  Many 
causes  combined  to  produce  this  mingled  record.  The 
one  most  clearly  contrary  to  the  chronicler's  teaching 
was  an  immoral  opinion  that  the  Christian  should  cease 
to  be  a  citizen,  and  that  the  saint  has  no  duties  to 
society.  This  view  is  often  considered  to  be  the  special 
vice  of  monasticism,  but  it  reappears  in  one  form  or 
another  in  every  generation.  The  failure  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  Louis  the  Pious  is  partly  explained 
when    we  read   that  he  was  with  difficulty  prevented 

'  Milman,  Laitn  Christianity,  Book  XI.,  Chap.  I. 


372  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

from  entering  a  monastery.  In  our  own  day  there 
are  those  who  think  that  a  newspaper  should  have 
no  interest  for  a  really  earnest  Christian.  According 
to  their  ideas,  Jehoshaphat  should  have  divided  his  time 
between  a  private  oratory  in  his  palace  and  the  public 
services  of  the  Temple,  and  have  left  his  kingdom  to 
the  mercy  of  unjust  judges  at  home  and  heathen  enemies 
abroad,  or  else  have  abdicated  in  favour  of  some 
kinsman  whose  heart  was  not  so  perfect  with  Jehovah. 
The  chronicler  had  a  clearer  insight  into  Divine  methods, 
and  this  doctrine  of  his  is  not  one  that  has  been  super- 
seded together  with  the  Mosaic  ritual. 

Possibly  the  martial  tone  of  the  sentence  that  con- 
cludes the  account  of  Jehoshaphat  as  the  Jewish 
Justinian  is  due  to  the  influence  upon  the  chronicler's 
mind  of  the  incident  ^  which  he  now  describes. 

Jehoshaphat's  next  experience  was  parallel  to  that  of 
Asa  with  Zerah.  When  his  new  reforms  were  com- 
pleted, he  was  menaced  with  a  formidable  invasion. 
His  new  enemies  were  almost  as  distant  and  strange  as 
the  Ethiopians  and  Lubim  who  had  followed  Zerah. 
We  hear  nothing  about  any  king  of  Israel  or  Damascus, 
the  usual  leaders  of  assaults  upon  Judah ;  we  hear 
instead  of  a  triple  alliance  against  Judah.  Two  of  the 
allies  are  Moab  and  Ammon  ;  but  the  Jewish  kings 
were  not  wont  to  regard  these  as  irresistible  foes,  so 
that  the  extreme  dismay  which  takes  possession  of  king 
and  people  must  be  due  to  the  third  ally  :  the 
"Meunim."-  The  Meunim  we  have  already  met  with 
in    connection    with    the   exploits    of  the    children    of 

'  XX.  1-30,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

^  So  R.V.  marg.,  with  the  LXX.  The  Targum  has  "  Edomites,"  the 
A. V.  is  not  justified  by  the  Hebrew,  and  the  R.V.  does  not  make  sense. 


xvii.-xx.]     THE   DOCTRINE   OF  NON-RESISTANCE  373 

Simeon  in  the  reign  of  Hezekia.h ;  they  ai'e  also 
mentioned  in  the  reign  of  Uzziah/  and  nowhere  else, 
unless  indeed  they  are  identical  with  the  Maonites,  who 
are  named  with  the  Amalekites  in  Judges  x.  12.  They 
are  thus  a  people  peculiar  to  Chronicles,  and  appear 
from  this  narrative  to  have  inhabited  Mount  Seir,  by 
which  term  "  Meunim"  is  replaced  as  the  story  proceeds.^ 
Since  the  chronicler  wrote  so  long  after  the  events  he 
describes,  we  cannot  attribute  to  him  any  very  exact 
knowledge  of  political  geography.  Probably  the  term 
**  Meunim"  impressed  his  contemporaries  very  much  as 
it  does  a  modern  reader,  and  suggested  countless  hordes 
of  Bedouin  plunderers ;  Josephus  calls  them  a  great 
army  of  Arabians.  This  host  of  invaders  came  from 
Edom,^  and  having  marched  round  the  southern  end  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  were  now  at  Engedi,  on  its  western  shore. 
The  Moabites  and  Ammonites  might  have  crossed  the 
Jordan  by  the  fords  near  Jericho ;  but  this  route  would 
not  have  been  convenient  for  their  allies  the  Meunim, 
and  would  have  brought  them  into  collision  with  the 
forces  of  the  northern  kingdom. 

On  this  occasion  Jehoshaphat  does  not  seek  any 
foreign  alliance.  He  does  not  appeal  to  Syria,  like  Asa, 
nor  does  he  ask  Ahab's  successor  to  repay  in  kind  the 
assistance  given  to  Ahab  at  Ramoth-gilead,  partly 
perhaps  because  there  was  no  time,  but  chiefly  because 
he  had  learnt  the  truth  which  Hanani  had  sought  to 
teach  his  father,  and  which  Hanani's  son  had  taught 
him.     He  does  not  even  trust  in  his  own  hundreds  of 


'  Cf.  I  Chron.  iv.  41,  R.V.  ;  and  2  Chron.  xxvi.  7. 

^  One  Hebrew  manuscript  is  quoted  as  having  this  reading.  A.R.V., 
with  the  ordinary  Masoretic  text,  have  "Syria";  but  it  is  simply  absuid 
to  suppose  that  a  multitude  from  beyond  tlie  sea  from  Syria  would  first 
make  their  appearance  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea, 


374  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

thousands  of  soldiers,  all  of  whom  cannot  have 
perished  at  Ramoth-gilead ;  his  confidence  is  placed 
solely  and  absolutely  in  Jehovah.  Jehoshaphat  and  his 
people  made  no  military  preparations  ;  subsequent  events 
justified  their  apparent  neglect  :  none  were  necessary. 
Jehoshaphat  sought  Divine  help  instead,  and  proclaimed 
a  fast  throughout  Judah  ;  and  all  Judah  gathered  them- 
selves to  Jerusalem  to  ask  help  of  Jehovah.  This 
great  national  assembly  met  "  before  the  new  court " 
of  the  Temple.  The  chronicler,  who  is  supremely  in- 
terested in  the  Temple  buildings,  has  told  us  nothing 
about  any  new  court,  nor  is  it  mentioned  elsewhere  ; 
our  author  is  probably  giving  the  title  of  a  corresponding 
portion  of  the  second  Temple  :  the  place  where  the  people 
assembled  to  meet  Jehoshaphat  would  be  the  great  court 
built  by  Solomon.-^ 

Here  Jehoshaphat  stood  up  as  the  spokesman  of  the 
nation,  and  prayed  to  Jehovah  on  their  behalf  and  on 
his  own.  He  recalls  the  Divine  omnipotence ;  Jehovah 
is  God  of  earth  and  heaven,  God  of  Israel  and  Ruler 
of  the  heathen,  and  therefore  able  to  help  even  in  this 
great  emergency  : — 

"  O  Jehovah,  God  of  our  fathers,  art  Thou  not  God 
in  heaven  ?  Dost  Thou  not  rule  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  heathen  ?  And  in  Thy  hand  is  power  and  might, 
so  that  none  is  able  to  withstand  Thee." 

The  land  of  Israel  had  been  the  special  gift  of 
Jehovah  to  His  people,  in  fulfilment  of  His  ancient 
promise  to  Abraham  : — 

"  Didst  not  Thou,  O  our  God,  dispossess  the  in- 
habitants of  this  land  in  favour  of  Thy  people  Israel, 

'  2  Chron.  iv.  9. 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON-RESISTANCE  375 


and  gavest  it  to  the  seed  of  Abraham  Thy  friend  for 


ever? 


And  now  long  possession  had  given  Israel  a  pre- 
scriptive right  to  the  Land  of  Promise ;  and  they  had, 
so  to  speak,  claimed  their  rights  in  the  most  formal 
and  solemn  fashion  by  expecting  a  temple  to  the  God  of 
Israel.  Moreover,  the  prayer  of  Solomon  at  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  Temple  had  been  accepted  by  Jehovah  as 
the  basis  of  His  covenant  with  Israel,  and  Jehoshaphat 
quotes  a  clause  from  that  prayer  or  covenant  which 
had  expressly  provided  for  such  emergencies  as  the 
present  :^ 

"  And  they  "  (Israel)  *'  dwelt  in  the  land,  and  built 
Thee  therein  a  sanctuary  for  Thy  name,  saying,  If  evil 
come  upon  us,  the  sword,  judgment,  pestilence,  or 
famine,  we  will  stand  before  this  house  and  before 
Thee  (for  Thy  name  is  in  this  house),  and  cry  unto 
Thee  in  our  affliction  ;  and  Thou  wilt  hear  and  save."  ^ 

Moreover,  the  present  invasion  was  not  only  an 
attempt  to  set  aside  Jehovah's  disposition  of  Palestine 
and  the  long-established  rights  of  Israel  :  it  was  also 
gross  ingratitude,  a  base  return  for  the  ancient  for- 
bearance of  Israel  towards  her  present  enemies  : — 

"And  now,  behold,  the  children  of  Ammon  and  Moab 
and  Mount  Seir,  whom  Thou  wouldest  not  let  Israel 
invade  when  they  came  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  but 
they  turned  aside  from  them  and  destroyed  them  not — 
behold  how  they  reward  us  by  coming  to  dispossess 
us  of  Thy  possession  which  Thou  hast  caused  us  to 
possess." 

For  this  nefarious  purpose  the  enemies  of  Israel  had 

'  Ver.  9 ;  cf.  2  Chron.  vi.  28,  and  the  whole  paragraph  (vv.  22-30) 
of  which  our  verse  is  a  brief  abstract. 


376  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

come  up  in  overwhelming  numbers,  but  Judah  w?.s 
confident  in  the  justice  of  its  cause  and  the  favour  of 
Jehovah  : — 

*'  O  our  God,  wilt  Thou  not  execute  judgment 
against  them  ?  for  we  have  no  might  against  this  great 
company  that  cometh  against  us,  neither  know  we 
what  to  do,  but  our  e3'es  are  upon  Thee." 

Meanwhile  the  great  assemblage  stood  in  the  atti- 
tude of  supplication  before  Jehovah,  not  a  gathering  of 
mighty  men  of  valour  praying  for  blessing  upon  their 
strength  and  courage,  but  a  mixed  multitude,  men  and 
women,  children  and  infants,  seeking  sanctuary,  as  it 
were,  at  the  Temple,  and  casting  themselves  in  their 
extremity  upon  the  protecting  care  of  Jehovah.  Pos- 
sibly when  the  king  finished  his  prayer  the  assembly 
broke  out  into  loud,  wailing  cries  of  dismay  and  agonised 
entreaty ;  but  the  silence  of  the  .  narrative  rather 
suggests  that  Jehoshaphat's  strong,  calm  faith  com- 
municated itself  to  the  people,  and  they  waited  quietly 
for  Jehovah's  answer,  for  some  token  or  promise  of 
deliverance.  Instead  of  the  confused  cries  of  an  excited 
crowd,  there  was  a  hush  of  expectancy,  such  as  some- 
times falls  upon  an  assembly  when  a  great  statesman 
has  risen  to  utter  words  which  will  be  big  with  the 
fate  of  empires. 

And  the  answer  came,  not  by  fire  from  heaven  or 
any  visible  sign,  not  by  voice  of  thunder  accompanied 
by  angelic  trumpets,  nor  by  angel  or  archangel,  but 
by  a  familiar  voice  hitherto  unsuspected  of  any  super- 
natural gifts,  b}''  a  prophetic  utterance  whose  only 
credentials  were  given  by  the  influence  of  the  Spirit 
upon  the  speaker  and  his  audience.  The  chronicler 
relates  with  evident  satisfaction  how,  in  the  midst  of 
that  great  congregation,  the   Spirit   of  Jehovah  came, 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE   OF  NON-RESISTANCE  377 


not  upon  king,  or  priest,  or  acknowledged  prophet,  but 
upon  a  subordinate  minister  of  the  Temple,  a  Levite 
and  member  of  the  Temple  choir  like  himself.  He  is 
careful  to  fix  the  identity  of  this  newly  called  prophet 
and  to  gratify  the  family  pride  of  existing  Levitical 
families  by  giving  the  prophet's  genealogy  for  several 
generations.  He  was  Jahaziel  the  son  of  Zechariah,  the 
son  of  Benaiah,  the  son  of  Jeiel,  the  son  of  Mattaniah,  of 
the  sons  of  Asaph.  The  very  names  were  encourag- 
ing. What  more  suitable  names  could  be  found  for  a 
messenger  of  Divine  mercy  than  Jahaziel — "  God  gives 
prophetic  vision  " — the  son  of  Zechariah — "  Jehovah 
remembers  "  ? 

Jahaziel's  message  showed  that  Jehoshaphat's  prayer 
had  been  accepted  ;  Jehovah  responded  without  reserve 
to  the  confidence  reposed  in  Him  :  He  would  vindicate 
His  own  authority  by  delivering  Judah ;  Jehoshaphat 
should  have  blessed  proof  of  the  immense  superiority 
of  simple  trust  in  Jehovah  over  an  alliance  with 
Ahab  or  the  king  of  Damascus.  Twice  the  prophet 
exhorts  the  king  and  people  in  the  very  words  that 
Jehovah  had  used  to  encourage  Joshua  when  the 
death  of  Moses  had  thrown  upon  him  all  the  heavy 
responsibilities  of  leadership  :  "  Fear  not,  nor  be 
dismayed."  They  need  no  longer  cling  like  frightened 
suppliants  to  the  sanctuary,  but  are  to  go  forth  at  once, 
the  very  next  day,  against  the  enemy.  That  they  may 
lose  no  time  in  looking  for  them,  Jehovah  announces 
the  exact  spot  where  the  enemy  are  to  be  found : 
"  Behold,  they  are  coming  by  the  ascent  of  Hazziz,^  and 
ye  shall  find  them  at  the  end  of  the  ravine  before  the 
wilderness  of  Jeruel."  This  topographical  description 
was  doubtless   perfectly  intelligible  to  the  chronicler's 

'  Not  Ziz,  as  A.R.V. 


378  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

contemporaries,  but  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  fix 
exactly  the  locality  of  Hazziz  or  Jeruel.  The  ascent 
of  Hazziz  has  been  identified  with  the  Wady  Husasa, 
which  leads  up  from  the  coast  of  the  Dead  Sea  north  of 
Engedi,  in  the  direction  of  Tekoa ;  but  the  identification 
is  by  no  means  certain. 

The  general  situation,  however,  is  fairly  clear :  the 
allied  invaders  would  come  up  from  the  coast  into  the 
highlands  of  Judah  by  one  of  the  wadies  leading  inland  ; 
they  were  to  be  met  by  Jehoshaphat  and  his  people  on 
one  of  the  "  wildernesses,"  or  plateaus  of  pasture-land, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Tekoa. 

But  the  Jews  went  forth,  not  as  an  army,  but  in 
order  to  be  the  passive  spectators  of  a  great  manifesta- 
tion of  the  power  of  Jehovah.  They  had  no  concern 
with  the  numbers  and  prowess  of  their  enemies  ;  Jehovah 
Himself  would  lay  bare  His  mighty  arm,  and  Judah 
should  see  that  no  foreign  ally,  no  millions  of  native 
warriors,  were  necessary  for  their  salvation  :  "Ye  shall 
not  need  to  fight  in  this  battle ;  take  up  your  position, 
stand  still  and  see  the  deliverance  of  Jehovah  with 
you,  O  Judah  and  Jerusalem." 

Thus  had  Moses  addressed  Israel  on  the  eve  of  the 
passage  of  the  Red  Sea.  Jehoshaphat  and  his  people 
owned  and  honoured  the  Divine  message  as  if  Jahaziel 
were  another  Moses ;  they  prostrated  themselves  on 
the  ground  before  Jehovah.  The  sons  of  Asaph  had 
already  been  privileged  to  provide  Jehovah  with  His 
prophet ;  these  Asaphites  represented  the  Levitical  clan 
of  Gershom  :  but  now  the  Kohathites,  with  their  guild 
of  singers,  the  sons  of  Korah,  "  stood  up  to  praise 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  with  an  exceeding  loud 
voice,"  as  the  Levites  sang  when  the  foundations  of 
the   second    Temple    were    laid,   and    when    Ezra    and 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON-RESISTANCE  379 

Nehemiah  made  the  people  enter  into  a  new  covenant 
with  their  God. 

Accordingly  on  the  morrow  the  people  rose  early  in 
the  morning  and  went  out  to  the  wilderness  of  Tekoa, 
ten  or  twelve  miles  south  of  Jerusalem.  In  ancient 
times  generals  were  wont  to  make  a  set  speech  to  their 
armies  before  they  led  them  into  battle,  so  Jehoshaphat 
addresses  his  subjects  as  they  pass  out  before  him. 
He  does  not  seek  to  make  them  confident  in  their  own 
strength  and  prowess  ;  he  does  not  inflame  their  passions 
against  Moab  and  Ammon,  nor  exhort  them  to  be  brave 
and  remind  them  that  they  fight  this  day  for  the  ashes 
of  their  fathers  and  the  temple  of  their  God.  Such  an 
address  would  have  been  entirel}'  out  of  place,  because 
the  Jews  were  not  going  to  fight  at  all.  Jehoshaphat 
only  bids  them  have  faith  in  Jehovah  and  His  prophets. 
It  is  a  curious  anticipation  of  Pauline  teaching.  Judah 
is  to  be  "saved  by  faith"  from  Moab  and  Ammon, 
as  the  Christian  is  delivered  by  faith  from  sin  and  its 
penalty.  The  incident  might  almost  seem  to  have  been 
recorded  in  order  to  illustrate  the  truth  that  St.  Paul 
was  to  teach.  It  is  strange  that  there  is  no  reference 
to  this  chapter  in  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  James, 
and  that  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  does 
not  remind  us  how  "  by  faith  Jehoshaphat  was  delivered 
from  Moab  and  Ammon." 

There  is  no  question  of  military  order,  no  reference 
to  the  five  great  divisions  into  which  the  armies  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin  are  divided  in  chap.  xvii.  Here, 
as  at  Jericho,  the  captain  of  Israel  is  chiefly  con- 
cerned to  provide  musicians  to  lead  his  army.  When 
David  was  arranging  for  the  musical  services  before 
the  Ark,  he  took  counsel  with  his  captains.  In  this 
unique   military    expedition    there    is    no    mention    of 


38o  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

captains ;  they  were  not  necessary,  and  if  they  were 
present,  there  was  no  opportunity  for  them  to  show 
their  skill  and  prowess  in  battle.  In  an  even  more 
democratic  spirit  Jehoshaphat  takes  counsel  with  the 
people — that  is,  probably  makes  some  proposition,  which 
is  accepted  with  universal  acclamation. 

The  Levitical  singers,  dressed  in  the  splendid  robes  ^ 
in  which  they  officiated  at  the  Temple,  were  appointed 
to  go  before  the  people,  and  offer  praises  unto  Jehovah, 
and  sing  the  anthem,  "  Give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  for 
His  mercy  endureth  for  ever."  These  words  or  their 
equivalent  are  the  opening  words,  and  the  second 
clause  the  refrain,  of  the  post-Exilic  Psalms  :  cvi., 
cvii.,  cxviii.,  and  cxxxvi.  As  the  chronicler  has  already 
ascribed  Psalm  cvi.  to  David,  he  possibly  ascribes 
all  four  to  David,  and  intends  us  to  understand  that 
one  or  all  of  them  were  sung  by  the  Levites  on  this 
occasion.  Later  Judaism  was  in  the  habit  of  denoting 
a  book  or  section  of  a  book  by  its  opening  words. 

And  so  Judah,  a  pilgrim  caravan  rather  than  an  army, 
went  on  to  its  Divinely  appointed  tryst  with  its  enemies, 
and  at  its  head  the  Levitical  choir  sang  the  Temple 
hymns.  It  was  not  a  campaign,  but  a  sacred  function, 
on  a  much  larger  scale  a  procession  such  as  may  be 
seen  winding  its  way,  with  chants  and  incense,  banners, 
images,  and  crucifixes,  through  the  streets  of  Catholic 
cities. 

Meanwhile  Jehovah  was  preparing  a  spectacle  to 
gladden  the  eyes  of  His  people  and  reward  their  im- 
plicit faith  and  exact  obedience ;  He  was  working  for 
those  who  were  waiting  for  Him.     Though  Judah  was 

'  K'np  rmn,  literally,  as  A.R.V.,  "beauty  of  holiness"  ;«>.,  sacred 
robes.  Translate  with  R.V.  marg.  "  praise  in  the  beauty  of  holiness," 
not,  as  A.R.V.,  "praise  the  beauty  of  holiness." 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE   OF  NON-RESISTANCE  381 

still  far  from  its  enemies,  yet,  like  the  trumpet  at  Jericho, 
the  strain  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  was  the  signal  for 
the  Divine  intervention  :  "  When  they  began  to  sing 
and  praise,  Jehovah  set  liers  in  wait  against  the  children 
of  Ammon,  Moab,  and  Mount  Seir."  Who  were  these 
liers  in  wait  ?  They  could  not  be  men  of  Judah  :  they 
were  not  to  fight,  but  to  be  passive  spectators  of  their 
own  deliverance.  Did  the  allies  set  an  ambush  for 
Judah,  and  was  it  thus  that  they  were  afterwards  led 
to  mistake  their  own  people  for  enemies  ?  Or  does  the 
chronicler  intend  us  to  understand  that  these  "liers  in 
wait  "  were  spirits ;  that  the  allied  invaders  were  tricked 
and  bewildered  like  the  shipwrecked  sailors  in  the 
Tempest ;  or  that  when  they  came  to  the  wilderness  of 
Jeruel  there  fell  upon  them  a  spirit  of  mutual  distrust, 
jealousy,  and  hatred,  that  had,  as  it  were,  been  waiting 
for  them  there  ?  But,  from  whatever  cause,  a  quarrel 
broke  out  amongst  them ;  and  they  were  smitten. 
When  Ammonite,  Moabite,  and  Edomite  met,  there 
were  many  private  and  public  feuds  waiting  their 
opportunity ;  and  such  confederates  were  as  ready  to 
quarrel  among  themselves  as  a  group  of  Highland 
clans  engaged  in  a  Lowland  foray.  "  Ammon  and  Moab 
stood  up  against  the  inhabitants  of  Mount  Seir  utterly 
to  slay  and  destroy  them."  But  even  Ammon  and 
Moab  soon  dissolved  their  alliance ;  and  at  last,  partly 
maddened  by  panic,  partly  intoxicated  by  a  wild  thirst 
for  blood,  a  very  Berserker  frenzy,  all  ties  of  friendship 
and  kindred  were  forgotten,  and  every  man's  hand  was 
against  his  brother.  "When  they  had  made  an  end  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Seir,  every  one  helped  to  destroy 
another." 

While  this  tragedy  was  enacting,   and  the  air  was 
rent    with    the    cruel    yells    of    that    death    struggle, 


382  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

Jehoshaphat  and  his  people  moved  on  in  tranquil  pil- 
grimage to  the  cheerful  sound  of  the  songs  of  Zion. 
At  last  they  reached  an  eminence,  perhaps  the  long, 
low  summit  of  some  ridge  overlooking  the  plateau  of 
Jeruel.  When  they  had  gained  this  watchtower  of 
the  wilderness,  the  ghastly  scene  burst  upon  their  gaze. 
Jehovah  had  kept  His  word :  they  had  found  their 
enemy.  They  "  looked  upon  the  multitude,"  all  those 
hordes  of  heathen  tribes  that  had  filled  them  with  terror 
and  dismay.  They  were  harmless  enough  now  :  the 
Jews  saw  nothing  but  "dead  bodies  fallen  to  the 
earth  " ;  and  in  that  Aceldama  lay  all  the  multitude  of 
profane  invaders  who  had  dared  to  violate  the  sanctity 
of  the  Promised  Land  :  "  There  were  none  that 
escaped."  So  had  Israel  looked  back  after  crossing 
the  Red  Sea  and  seen  the  corpses  of  the  Egyptians 
washed  up  on  the  shore. ^  So  when  the  angel  of 
Jehovah  smote  Sennacherib, — 

"  Like  the  leaves  of  the  forest  when  autumn  hath  blown, 
That  host  on  the  morrow  lay  withered  and  strown." 

There  is  no  touch  of  pity  for  the  wretched  victims 
of  their  own  sins.  Greeks  of  every  city  and  tribe 
could  feel  the  pathos  of  the  tragic  end  of  the  Athenian 
expedition  against  Syracuse ;  but  the  Jews  had  no  ruth 
for  the  kindred  tribes  that  dwelt  along  their  frontier, 
and  the  age  of  the  chronicler  had  not  yet  learnt  that 
Jehovah  had  either  tenderness  or  compassion  for  the 
enemies  of  Israel. 

The  spectators  of  this  carnage — we  cannot  call  them 
victors — did  not  neglect  to  profit  to  the  utmost  by 
their   great    opportunity.       They  spent   three   days  in 

'  Exod.  xiv.  30. 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON-RESISTANCE  383 

Stripping  the  dead  bodies ;  and  as  Orientals  delight 
in  jewelled  weapons  and  costly  garments,  and  their 
chiefs  take  the  field  with  barbaric  ostentation  of 
wealth,  the  spoil  was  both  valuable  and  abundant : 
*'  riches,  and  raiment,^  and  precious  jewels,  .  .  .  more 
than  they  could  carry  away." 

In  collecting  the  spoil,  the  Jews  had  become  dispersed 
through  all  the  wide  area  over  which  the  fighting 
between  the  confederates  must  have  extended  ;  but  on 
the  fourth  day  they  gathered  together  again  in  a 
neighbouring  valley  and  gave  solemn  thanks  for  their 
deliverance  :  "  There  they  blessed  Jehovah  ;  therefore 
the  name  of  that  place  was  called  the  valley  of  Berachah 
unto  this  day."  West  of  Tekoa,^  not  too  far  from  the 
scene  of  carnage,  a  ruin  and  a  wady  still  bear  the  name 
"  Bereikut "  ;  and  doubtless  in  the  chronicler's  time  the 
valley  was  called  Berachah,  and  local  tradition  furnished 
our  author  with  this  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the 
name. 

When  the  spoil  was  all  collected,  they  returned  to 
Jerusalem  as  they  came,  in  solemn  procession,  headed, 
no  doubt,  by  the  Levites,  with  psalteries,  and  harps,  and 
trumpets.  They  came  back  to  the  scene  of  their  anxious 
supplications  :  to  the  house  of  Jehovah.  But  yesterday, 
as  it  were,  they  had  assembled  before  Jehovah,  terror- 
stricken  at  the  report  of  an  irresistible  host  of  invaders  ; 
and  to-day  their  enemies  were  utterly  destroyed.  They 
had  experienced  a  deliverance  that  might  rank  with 
the  Exodus ;  and  as  at  that  former  deliverance  they 
had  spoiled  the  Egyptians,  so  now  they  had  returned 

'  With  R.V.  marg. 

^  The  identification  of  the  valley  of  Berachah  with  the  valley  of 
Jehoshaphat,  close  to  Jerusalem  and  mentioned  by  Josephus,  is  a  mere 
theory,  quite  at  variance  with  the  topographical  evidence. 


THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


laden  with  the  plunder  of  Moab,  Ammon,  and  Edom. 
And  all  their  neighbours  were  smitten  with  fear  when 
they  heard  of  the  awful  ruin  which  Jehovah  had  brought 
upon  these  enemies  of  Israel.  No  one  would  dare  to 
invade  a  country  where  Jehovah  laid  a  ghostly  ambush 
of  liers  in  wait  for  the  enemies  of  His  people.  The 
realm  of  Jehoshaphat  was  quiet,  not  because  he  was 
protected  by  powerful  allies  or  by  the  swords  of  his 
numerous  and  valiant  soldiers,  but  because  Judah  had 
become  another  Eden,  and  cherubim  with  flaming 
swords  guarded  the  frontier  on  every  hand,  and  *'  his 
God  gave  him  rest  round  about." 

Then  follow  the  regular  summary  and  conclusion  of 
the  history  of  the  reign  taken  from  the  book  of  Kings, 
with  the  usual  alterations  in  the  reference  to  further 
sources  of  information.  We  are  told  here,  in  direct 
contradiction  to  xvii.  6  and  to  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
previous  chapters,  that  the  high  places  were  not  taken 
away,  another  illustration  of  the  slight  importance  the 
chronicler  attached  to  accuracy  in  details.  He  either 
overlooks  the  contradiction  between  passages  borrowed 
from  different  sources,  or  else  does  not  think  it  worth 
while  to  harmonise  his  inconsistent  materials. 

But  after  the  narrative  of  the  reign  is  thus  formally 
closed  the  chronicler  inserts  a  postscript,  perhaps  by 
a  kind  of  after-thought.  The  book  of  Kings  narrates  ^ 
how  Jehoshaphat  made  ships  to  go  to  Ophir  for  gold, 
but  they  were  broken  at  Ezion-geber ;  then  Ahaziah 
the  son  of  Ahab  proposed  to  enter  into  partnership 
with  Jehoshaphat,  and  the  latter  rejected  his  proposal. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  chronicler's  theory  of  retribution 
required  some  reason  why  so  pious  a  king  experienced 


I  Kings  xxii.  48,  49. 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON-RESISTANCE  385 

misfortune.  What  sin  had  Jehoshaphat  committed  to 
deserve  to  have  his  ships  broken  ?  The  chronicler  has 
a  new  version  of  the  story,  which  provides  an  answer 
to  this  question.  Jehoshaphat  did  not  build  any  ships 
by  himself;  his  unfortunate  navy  was  constructed  in 
partnership  with  Ahaziah  ;  and  accordingly  the  prophet 
Eliezer  rebuked  him  for  allying  himself  a  second  time 
with  a  wicked  king  of  Israel,  and  announced  the 
coming  wreck  of  the  ships.  And  so  it  came  about  that 
the  ships  were  broken,  and  the  shadow  of  Divine  dis- 
pleasure rested  on  the  last  days  of  Jehoshaphat. 

We  have  next  to  notice  the  chronicler's  most  impor- 
tant omissions.  The  book  of  Kings  narrates  another 
alliance  of  Jehoshaphat  with  Jehoram,  king  of  Israel, 
like  his  alliances  with  Ahab  and  Ahaziah.  The  nar- 
rative of  this  incident  closely  resembles  that  of  the 
earlier  joint  expedition  to  Ramoth-gilead.  As  then 
Jehoshaphat  marched  out  with  Ahab,  so  now  he  accom- 
panies Ahab's  son  Jehoram,  taking  with  him  his  subject 
ally  the  king  of  Edom.  Here  also  a  prophet  appears 
upon  the  scene ;  but  on  this  occasion  Elisha  addresses 
no  rebuke  to  Jehoshaphat  for  his  alliance  with  Israel, 
but  treats  him  with  marked  respect :  and  the  allied 
army  wins  a  great  victory.  If  this  narrative  had  been 
included  in  Chronicles,  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat  would 
not  have  afforded  an  altogether  satisfactory  illustration 
of  the  main  lesson  which  the  chronicler  intended  it 
to  teach. 

This  main  lesson  was  that  the  chosen  people  should 
not  look  for  protection  against  their  enemies  either  to 
foreign  alliances  or  to  their  own  military  strength,  but 
solely  to  the  grace  and  omnipotence  of  Jehovah.  One 
negative  aspect  of  this  principle  has  been  enforced  by 
the    condemnation    of  Asa's   alliance    with    Syria   and 

25 


386  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

Jehoshaphat's  with  Ahab  and  Ahaziah.  Later  on  the 
uselessness  of  an  army  apart  from  Jehovah  is  shown  in 
the  defeat  of  "  the  great  host  "  of  Joash  by  "  a  small 
company"  of  Syrians.^  The  positive  aspect  has  been 
partially  illustrated  by  the  signal  victories  of  Abijah  and 
Asa  against  overwhelming  odds  and  without  the  help 
of  any  foreign  allies.  But  these  were  partial  and 
unsatisfactory  illustrations  :  Jehovah  vouchsafed  to 
share  the  glory  of  these  victories  with  great  armies 
that  were  numbered  by  the  hundred  thousand.  And 
after  all,  the  odds  were  not  so  very  overwhelming. 
Scores  of  parallels  may  be  found  in  which  the  odds  were 
much  greater.  In  the  case  of  vast  Oriental  hosts 
a  superiority  of  two  to  one  might  easily  be  counter- 
balanced by  discipline  and  valour  in  the  smaller  army. 

The  peculiar  value  to  the  chronicler  of  the  deliverance 
from  Moab,  Ammon,  and  the  Meunim  lay  in  the  fact 
that  no  human  arm  divided  the  glory  with  Jehovah. 
It  was  shown  conclusively  not  merely  that  Judah  could 
safely  be  contented  with  an  army  smaller  than  those  of 
its  neighbours,  but  that  Judah  would  be  equally  safe 
with  no  army  at  all.  We  feel  that  this  lesson  is  taught 
with  added  force  when  we  remember  that  Jehoshaphat 
had  a  larger  army  than  is  ascribed  to  any  Israelite  or 
Jewish  king  after  David.  Yet  he  places  no  confidence 
in  his  eleven  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  warriors,  and 
he  is  not  allowed  to  make  any  use  of  them.  In  the  case 
of  a  king  with  small  military  resources,  to  trust  in 
Jehovah  might  be  merely  making  a  virtue  of  necessity ; 
but  if  Jehoshaphat,  with  his  immense  army,  felt  that  his 
only  real  help  was  in  his  God,  the  example  furnished 
an  a  fortiori  argument  which  would  conclusively  show 

'  2  Chron.  xxiv.  24,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON-RESISTANCE  387 

that  it  was  always  the  duty  and  privilege  of  the  Jews  to 
say  with  the  Psahnist,  "  Some  trust  in  chariots,  and 
some  in  horses  ;  but  we  will  remember  the  name  of 
Jehovah  our  God."^  The  ancient  literature  of  Israel 
furnished  other  illustrations  of  the  principle  :  at  the  Red 
Sea  the  Israelites  had  been  delivered  without  any 
exercise  of  their  own  warlike  prowess  ;  at  Jericho,  as  at 
Jeruel,  the  enemy  had  been  completely  overthrown  by 
Jehovah  before  His  people  rushed  upon  the  spoil ; 
and  the  same  direct  Divine  intervention  saved  Jerusalem 
from  Sennacherib.  But  the  later  history  of  the  Jews 
had  been  a  series  of  illustrations  of  enforced  dependence 
upon  Jehovah.  A  little  semi-ecclesiastical  community 
inhabiting  a  small  province  that  passed  from  one  great 
power  to  another  like  a  counter  in  the  game  of  inter- 
national politics  had  no  choice  but  to  trust  in  Jehovah, 
if  it  were  in  any  way  to  maintain  its  self-respect.  For 
this  community  of  the  second  Temple  to  have  had 
confidence  in  its  sword  and  bow  would  have  seemed 
equally  absurd  to  the  Jews  and  to  their  Persian  and 
Greek  masters. 

When  they  were  thus  helpless,  Jehovah  wrought 
for  Israel,  as  He  had  destroyed  the  enemies  of 
Jehoshaphat  in  the  wilderness  of  Jeruel.  The  Jews 
stood  still  and  saw  the  working  out  of  their  deliverance; 
great  empires  wrestled  together  like  Moab,  Ammon,  and 
Edom,  in  the  agony  of  the  death  struggle  :  and  over  all 
the  tumult  of  battle  Israel  heard  the  voice  of  Jehovah, 
"  The  battle  is  not  yours,  but  God's;  .  .  .  set  yourselves, 
stand  ye  still,  and  see  the  deliverance  of  Jehovah  with 
you,  O  Judah  and  Jerusalem."  Before  their  eyes  there 
passed  the  scenes  of  that  great  drama  which  for  a  time 

'  Psalm  XX.  7. 


388  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

gave  Western  Asia  Aryan  instead  of  Semitic  masters. 
For  them  the  whole  action  had  but  one  meaning : 
without  calling  Israel  into  the  field,  Jehovah  was 
devoting  to  destruction  the  enemies  of  His  people  and 
opening  up  a  way  for  His  redeemed  to  return,  like 
Jehoshaphat's  procession,  to  the  Holy  City  and  the 
Temple,  The  long  series  of  wars  became  a  wager 
of  battle,  in  which  Israel,  herself  a  passive  spectator, 
appeared  by  her  Divine  Champion  ;  and  the  assured 
issue  was  her  triumphant  vindication  and  restoration 
to  her  ancient  throne  in  Zion. 

After  the  Restoration  God's  protecting  providence 
asked  no  armed  assistance  from  Judah.  The  mandates 
of  a  distant  court  authorised  the  rebuilding  of  the 
Temple  and  the  fortifying  of  the  city.  The  Jews 
solaced  their  national  pride  and  found  consolation  for 
their  weakness  and  subjection  in  the  thought  that  their 
ostensible  masters  were  in  reality  only  the  instruments 
which  Jehovah  used  to  provide  for  the  security  and 
prosperity  of  His  children. 

We  have  already  noticed  that  this  philosophy  of 
history  is  not  peculiar  to  Israel.  Every  nation  has  a 
similar  system,  and  regards  its  own  interests  as  the 
supreme  care  of  Providence.  We  have  seen,  too,  that 
moral  influences  have  controlled  and  checkmated 
material  forces;  God  has  fought  against  the  biggest 
battalions.  Similarly  the  Jews  are  not  the  only  people 
for  whom  deliverances  have  been  worked  out  almost 
without  any  co-operation  on  their  own  part.  It  was  not 
a  negro  revolt,  for  instance,  that  set  free  the  slaves  of 
our  colonies  or  of  the  Southern  States,  Italy  regained 
her  Eternal  City  as  an  incidental  effect  of  a  great  war 
in  which  she  herself  took  no  part.  Important  political 
movements  and   great  struggles  involve   consequences 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE  OF  NON-RESISTANCE  389 

equally  unforeseen  and  unintended  by  the  chief  actors 
in  these  dramas,  consequences  which  would  seem  to 
them  insignificant  compared  with  more  obvious  results. 
Some  obscure  nation  almost  ready  to  perish  is  given  a 
respite,  a  breathing  space,  in  which  it  gathers  strength  ; 
instead  of  losing  its  separate  existence,  it  endures  till 
time  and  opportunity  make  it  one  of  the  ruling  in- 
fluences in  the  world's  history :  some  Geneva  or 
Wittenberg  becomes,  just  at  the  right  time,  a  secure 
refuge  and  vantage-ground  for  one  of  the  Lord's 
prophets.  Our  understanding  of  what  God  is  doing  in 
our  time  and  our  hopes  for  what  He  may  yet  do  will 
indeed  be  small,  if  we  think  that  God  can  do  nothing 
for  our  cause  unless  our  banner  flies  in  the  forefront 
of  the  battle,  and  the  war-cry  is  "  The  sword  of  Gideon !  " 
as  well  as  "  The  sword  of  Jehovah  1 "  There  will  be 
many  battles  fought  in  which  we  shall  strike  no  blow 
and  yet  be  privileged  to  divide  the  spoil.  We  sometimes 
"stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  Jehovah." 

The  chronicler  has  found  disciples  in  these  latter 
days  of  a  kindlier  spirit  and  more  catholic  sympathies. 
He  and  they  have  reached  their  common  doctrines  by 
different  paths,  but  the  chronicler  teaches  non-resistance 
as  clearly  as  the  Society  of  Friends.  "When  you  have 
fully  yielded  yourself  to  the  Divine  teaching,"  he  says, 
"  you  will  neither  fight  yourself  nor  ask  others  to  fight 
for  you  ;  you  will  simply  stand  still  and  watch  a  Divine 
providence  protecting  you  and  destroying  your  enemies." 
The  Friends  could  almost  echo  this  teaching,  not 
perhaps  laying  quite  so  much  stress  on  the  destruction 
of  the  enemy,  though  among  the  visions  of  the  earlier 
Friends  there  were  many  that  revealed  the  coming  judg- 
ments of  the  Lord ;  and  the  modern  enthusiast  is  still  apt 
to  consider  that  his  enemies,  are  the  Lord's  enemies  and 


390  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

to  call  the  gratification  of  his  own  revengeful  spirit  a 
vindicating  of  the  honour  of  the  Lord  and  a  satisfaction 
of  outraged  justice. 

If  the  chronicler  had  lived  to-day,  the  history  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  might  have  furnished  him  with 
illustrations  almost  as  apt  as  the  destruction  of  the 
allied  invaders  of  Judah.  He  would  have  rejoiced  to 
tell  us  how  a  people  that  repudiated  any  resort  to 
violence  succeeded  in  conciliating  savage  tribes  and 
founding  the  flourishing  colony  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
would  have  seen  the  hand  of  the  Lord  in  the  wealth 
and  honour  that  have  been  accorded  to  a  once  despised 
and  persecuted  sect. 

We  should  be  passing  to  matters  that  were  still 
beyond  the  chronicler's  horizon,  if  we  were  to  connect 
his  teaching  with  our  Lord's  injunction,  "  Whosoever 
shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the 
other  also."  Such  a  sentiment  scarcely  harmonises 
with  the  three  days'  stripping  of  dead  bodies  in  the 
wilderness  of  Jeruel.  But  though  the  chronicler's 
motives  for  non-resistance  were  not  touched  and 
softened  with  the  Divine  gentleness  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  and  his  object  was  not  to  persuade  his 
hearers  to  patient  endurance  of  wrong,  yet  he  had 
conceived  the  possibility  of  a  mighty  faith  that  could 
put  its  fortunes  unreservedly  into  the  hands  of  God 
and  trust  Him  with  the  issues.  If  we  are  ever  to  be 
worthy  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  it  can  only 
be  by  the  sustaining  power  and  inspiring  influence  of 
a  like  faith. 

When  we  come  to  ask  how  far  the  people  for  whom 
he  wrote  responded  to  his  teaching  and  carried  it 
into  practical  life,  we  are  met  with  one  of  the  many 
instances  of  the  grim  irony  of  history.     Probably  the 


xvii.-xx.]     THE  DOCTRINE   OF  NON-RESISTANCE  391 

chronicler's  glowing  vision  of  peaceful  security,  guarded 
on  every  hand  by  legions  of  angels,  was  partly 
inspired  by  the  comparative  prosperity  of  the  time  at 
which  he  wrote.  Other  considerations  combine  with 
this  to  suggest  that  the  composition  of  his  work 
beguiled  the  happy  leisure  of  one  of  the  brighter 
intervals  between  Ezra  and  the  Maccabees. 

Circumstances  were  soon  to  test  the  readiness  of  the 
Jews,  in  times  of  national  danger,  to  observe  the 
attitude  of  passive  spectators  and  wait  for  a  Divine 
deliverance.  It  was  not  altogether  in  this  spirit  that  the 
priests  met  the  savage  persecutions  of  Antiochus.  They 
made  no  vain  attempts  to  exorcise  this  evil  spirit  with 
hymns,  and  psalteries,  and  harps,  and  trumpets ;  but  the 
priest  Mattathias  and  his  sons  slew  the  king's  commis- 
sioner and  raised  the  standard  of  armed  revolt.  We  do 
indeed  find  indications  of  something  like  obedience  to 
the  chronicler's  principles.  A  body  of  the  revolted 
Jews  were  attacked  on  the  Sabbath  Day  ;  they  made  no 
attempt  to  defend  themselves  :  *'  When  they  gave  them 
battle  with  all  speed,  they  answered  them  not,  neither 
cast  they  a  stone  at  them,  nor  stopped  the  places 
where  they  lay  hid,  .  .  .  and  their  enemies  rose  up 
against  them  on  the  sabbath,  and  slew  them,  with  their 
wives,  and  their  children,  and  their  cattle,  to  the  number 
of  a  thousand  people."^  No  Divine  intervention 
rewarded  this  devoted  faith,  nor  apparently  did  the 
Jews  expect  it,  for  they  had  said,  "  Let  us  die  all  in  our 
innocency ;  heaven  and  earth  shall  testify  for  us  that 
ye  put  us  to  death  wrongfully."  This  is,  after  all,  a 
higher  note  than  that  of  Chronicles  :  obedience  may  not 
bring  invariable  reward ;  nevertheless  the  faithful  will 

'    I  Mace.  ii.  35-38. 


392  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

not  swerve  from  their  loyalty.  But  the  priestly  leaders 
of  the  people  looked  with  no  favourable  eye  upon  this 
offering  up  of  human  hecatombs  in  honour  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath.  They  were  not  prepared  to 
die  passively ;  and,  as  representatives  of  Jehovah  and 
of  the  nation  for  the  time  being,  they  decreed  that 
henceforth  they  would  fight  against  those  who  attacked 
them,  even  on  the  Sabbath  Day.  Warfare  on  these 
more  secular  principles  was  crowned  with  that  visible 
success  which  the  chronicler  regarded  as  the  manifest 
sign  of  Divine  approval ;  and  a  dynasty  of  royal  priests 
filled  the  throne  and  led  the  armies  of  Israel,  and 
assured  and  strengthened  their  authority  by  intrigues 
and  alliances  with  every  heathen  sovereign  within  their 
reach. 


CHAPTER    V 

JEHORAM,  AHAZIAH,   AND  ATHALIAH :  THE  CON- 
SEQUENCES OF  A   FOREIGN  MARRIAGE 

2  Chron.  xxi.-xxiii. 

THE  accession  of  Jehoram  is  one  of  the  instances 
in  which  a  wicked  son  succeeded  to  a  con- 
spicuously pious  father,  but  in  this  case  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  explaining  the  phenomenon  :  the  depraved 
character  and  evil  deeds  of  Jehoram,  Ahaziah,  and 
Athaliah  are  at  once  accounted  for  when  we  remember 
that  they  were  respectively  the  son-in-law,  grandson, 
and  daughter  of  Ahab,  and  possibly  of  Jezebel.  If, 
however,  Jezebel  were  really  the  mother  of  Athaliah, 
it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  chronicler  understood 
or  at  any  rate  realised  the  fact.  In  the  books  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah  the  chronicler  lays  great  stress  upon  the 
iniquity  and  inexpediency  of  marriage  with  strange 
wives,  and  he  has  been  careful  to  insert  a  note  into  the 
history  of  Jehoshaphat  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  king  of  Judah  had  joined  affinity  with  Ahab.  If  he 
had  understood  that  this  implied  joining  affinity  with 
a  Phcenician  devotee  of  Baal,  this  significant  fact  would 
not  have  been  passed  over  in  silence.  Moreover,  the 
names  Athaliah  and  Ahaziah  are  both  compounded 
with  the  sacred  name  Jehovah.  A  Phoenician  Baal- 
worshipper  may  very  well  have  been  sufficiently  eclectic 

393 


394  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

to  make  such  use  of  the  name  sacred  to  the  family  mto 
which  she  married,  but  on  the  whole  those  names 
rather  tell  against  the  descent  of  their  owners  from 
Jezebel  and  her  Zidonian  ancestors. 

We  have  seen  that,  after  giving  the  concluding 
formula  for  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  chronicler 
adds  a  postscript  narrating  an  incident  discreditable 
to  the  king.  Similarly  he  prefaces  the  introductory 
formula  for  the  reign  of  Jehoram  by  inserting  a  cruel 
deed  of  the  new  king.  Before  telling  us  Jehoram's  age 
at  his  accession  and  the  length  of  his  reign,  the 
chronicler  relates  ^  the  steps  taken  by  Jehoram  to 
secure  himself  upon  his  throne.  Jehoshaphat,  like 
Rehoboam,  had  disposed  of  his  numerous  sons  in  the 
fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and  had  sought  to  make  them 
quiet  and  contented  by  providing  largely  for  their 
material  welfare  :  **  Their  father  gave  them  great  gifts  : 
silver,  gold,  and  precious  things,  with  fenced  cities  in 
Judah."  The  sanguine  judgment  of  paternal  affection 
might  expect  that  these  gifts  would  make  his  younger 
sons  loyal  and  devoted  subjects  of  their  elder  brother ; 
but  Jehoram,  not  without  reason,  feared  that  treasure 
and  cities  might  supply  the  means  for  a  revolt,  or  that 
Judah  might  be  split  up  into  a  number  of  small  princi- 
palities. Accordingly  when  he  had  strengthened  him- 
self he  slew  all  his  brethren  with  the  sword,  and  with 
them  those  princes  of  Israel  whom  he  suspected  of 
attachment  to  his  other  victims.  He  was  following 
the  precedent  set  by  Solomon  when  he  ordered  the 
execution  of  Adpnijah ;  and,  indeed,  the  slaughter  by 
a  new  sovereign  of  all  those  near  relations  who  might 
possibly  dispute   his  claim  to   the   throne   has  usually 

'  xxi.  2-4,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


xxi.-xxiii.]    JEHORAM,  AHAZIAH,  AND  ATHALIAH        395 

been  considered  in  the  East  to  be  a  painful  but  neces- 
sary and  perfectly  justifiable  act,  being,  in  fact,  regarded 
in  much  the  same  light  as  the  drowning  of  superfluous 
kittens  in  domestic  circles.  Probably  this  episode  is 
placed  before  the  introductory  formula  for  the  reign 
because  until  these  possible  rivals  were  removed 
Jehoram's  tenure  of  the  throne  was  altogether  unsafe. 

For  the  next  few  verses^  the  narrative  follows  the 
book  of  Kings  with  scarcely  any  alteration,  and  states 
the  evil  character  of  the  new  reign,  accounting  for 
Jehoram's  depravity  by  his  marriage  with  a  daughter 
of  Ahab.  The  successful  revolt  of  Edom  from  Judah 
is  next  given,  and  the  chronicler  adds  a  note  of  his 
own  to  the  effect  that  Jehoram  experienced  these 
reverses  because  he  had  forsaken  Jehovah,  the  God 
of  his  fathers. 

Then  the  chronicler  proceeds  ^  to  describe  further 
sins  and  misfortunes  of  Jehoram.  He  mentions 
definitely,  what  is  doubtless  impHed  by  the  book  of 
Kings,  that  Jehoram  made  high  places  in  the  cities  of 
Judah  ^  and  seduced  the  people  into  taking  part  in  a 
corrupt  worship.  The  Divine  condemnation  of  the 
king's  wrong-doing  came  from  an  unexpected  quarter  and 
in  an  unusual  fashion.  The  other  prophetic  messages 
specially  recorded  by  the  chronicler  were  uttered  by 
prophets  of  Judah,  some  apparently  receiving  their 
inspiration  for  one  particular  occasion.  The  prophet 
who  rebuked  Jehoram  was  no  less  distinguished  a 
personage  than  the  great  Israelite  Elijah,  who,  according 
to  the  book  of  Kings,  had  long  since  been  translated 

'  Vv.  5-10;  cf.  2  Kings  viii.  17-22. 
*  xxi.  II-19,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

^  So  R.V.  marg.,  with  LXX.  and  Vulgate.  A.R.V.  have  "  mountains," 
with  Masoretic  text. 


396  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

to  heaven.  In  the  older  narrative  Elijah's  work  is 
exclusively  confined  to  the  northern  kingdom.  But 
the  chronicler  entirely  ignores  Elijah,  except  when  his 
history  becomes  connected  for  a  moment  with  that  of 
the  house  of  David. 

The  other  prophets  of  Judah  delivered  their  messages 
by  word  of  mouth,  but  this  communication  is  made  by 
means  of  "a  writing."  This,  however,  is  not  without 
parallel  :  Jeremiah  sent  a  letter  to  the  captives  in 
Babylon,  and  also  sent  a  written  collection  of  his  pro- 
phecies to  Jehoiakim.^  In  the  latter  case,  however,  the 
prophecies  had  been  originally  promulgated  by  word 
of  mouth. 

Elijah  writes  in  the  name  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
David,  "and  condemns  Jehoram  because  he  was  not 
walking  in  the  ways  of  Asa  and  Jehoshaphat,  but  in  the 
ways  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  Ahab.  It 
is  pleasant  to  find  that,  in  spite  of  the  sins  which 
marked  the  latter  days  of  Asa  and  Jehoshaphat,  their 
"  ways"  were  as  a  whole  such  as  could  be  held  up  as  an 
example  by  the  prophet  of  Jehovah.  Here  and  else- 
where God  appeals  to  the  better  feelings  that  spring 
from  pride  of  birth.  Noblesse  oblige.  Jehoram  held 
his  throne  as  representative  of  the  house  of  David,  and 
was  proud  to  trace  his  descent  to  the  founder  of  the 
Israelite  monarchy  and  to  inherit  the  glory  of  the  great 
reigns  of  Asa  and  Jehoshaphat ;  but  this  pride  of  race 
implied  that  to  depart  from  their  ways  was  dishonour- 
able apostacy.  There  is  no  more  pitiful  spectacle  than 
an  effeminate  libertine  pluming  himself  on  his  noble 
ancestry. 

Elijah  further  rebukes  Jehoram  for  the  massacre  of 

'  Jer.  xxix. ;  xxxvi. 


xxi.-xxiii.]    JEHORAM,  AHAZIAH,  AND  ATHALIAH        397 

his  brethren,  who  were  better  than  himself.  They  had 
all  grown  up  at  their  father's  court,  and  till  the  other 
brethren  were  put  in  possession  of  their  fenced  cities 
had  been  under  the  same  influences.  It  is  the  husband 
of  Ahab's  daughter  who  is  worse  than  all  the  rest  ;  the 
influence  of  an  unsuitable  marriage  has  already  begun 
to  show  itself.  Indeed,  in  view  of  Athaliah's  subsequent 
history,  we  do  her  no  injustice  by  supposing  that,  like 
Jezebel  and  Lady  Macbeth,  she  had  suggested  her 
husband's  crime.  The  fact  that  Jehoram's  brethren 
were  better  men  than  himself  adds  to  his  guilt  morally, 
but  this  undesirable  superiority  of  the  other  princes 
of  the  blood  to  the  reigning  sovereign  would  seem 
to  Jehoram  and  his  advisers  an  additional  reason  for 
putting  them  out  of  the  way  ;  the  massacre  was  an 
urgent  political  necessity. 

"  Truly  the  tender  mercies  of  the  weak, 
As  of  the  wicked,  are  but  cruel." 

There  is  nothing  so  cruel  as  the  terror  of  a  selfish 
man.  The  Inquisition  is  the  measure  not  only  of  the 
inhumanity,  but  also  of  the  weakness,  of  the  mediaeval 
Church ;  and  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  was  due 
to  the  feebleness  of  Charles  IX.  as  well  as  to  the 
"  revenge  or  the  blind  instinct  of  self-preservation  "  ^  of 
Mary  de  Medici. 

The  chronicler's  condemnation  of  Jehoram's  massacre 
marks  the  superiority  of  the  standard  of  later  Judaism 
to  the  current  Oriental  morality.  For  his  sins  Jehoram 
was  to  be  punished  by  sore  disease  and  by  a  great 
**  plague"  which  would   fall  upon  his  people,  and  his 

'  Green's  Shorter  History,  p.  4.04. 


398  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

wives,  and  his  children,  and  all  his  substance.  From 
the  following  verses  we  see  that  "  plague,"  here  as  in 
the  case  of  some  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  has  the  sense 
of  calamity  generally,  and  not  the  narrower  mean- 
ing of  pestilence.  This  plague  took  the  form  of  an 
invasion  of  the  Philistines  and  of  the  Arabians  "  which 
are  beside  the  Ethiopians."  Divine  inspiration  prompted 
them  to  attack  Judah ;  Jehovah  stirred  up  their  spirit 
against  Jehoram.  Probably  here,  as  in  the  story  of 
Zerah,  the  term  Ethiopians  is  used  loosely  for  the 
Egyptians,  in  which  case  the  Arabs  in  question  would 
be  inhabitants  of  the  desert  between  the  south  of 
Palestine  and  Egypt,  and  would  thus  be  neighbours  of 
their  Philistine  allies. 

These  marauding  bands  succeeded  where  the  huge 
hosts  of  Zerah  had  failed ;  they  broke  into  Judah,  and 
carried  off  all  the  king's  treasure,  together  with  his  sons 
and  his  wives,  only  leaving  him  his  youngest  son : 
Jehoahaz  or  Ahaziah.  They  afterwards  slew  the  princes 
they  had  taken  captive.'^  The  common  people  would 
scarcely  suffer  less  severely  than  their  king.  Jehoram 
himself  was  reserved  for  special  personal  punishment : 
Jehovah  smote  him  with  a  sore  disease ;  and,  like 
Asa,  he  lingered  for  two  years  and  then  died.  The 
people  were  so  impressed  by  his  wickedness  that  "  they 
made  no  burning  for  him,  like  the  burning  of  his 
fathers,"  whereas  they  had  made  a  very  great  burning 
for  Asa.^ 


'  xxii.  I  b,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

^  The  Hebrew  original  of  the  A.R.V.,  "  departed  without  being 
desired,"  is  as  obscure  as  the  English  of  Air  versions.  The  most 
probable  translation  is,  "  He  behaved  so  as  to  please  no  one,"  The 
A.R.V.  apparently  mean  that  no  one  regretted  his  death. 


xxi.-xxiii.]    JEHORAM,  AHAZIAH,  AND  ATHALIAH       399 


The  chronicler's  account  of  the  reign  of  Ahaziah  ^ 
does  not  differ  materially  from  that  given  by  the  book 
of  Kings,  though  it  is  considerably  abridged,  and  there 
are  other  minor  alterations.  The  chronicler  sets  forth 
even  more  emphatically  than  the  earlier  history  the 
evil  influence  of  Athaliah  and  her  Israelite  kinsfolk  over 
Ahaziah's  short  reign  of  one  year.  The  story  of  his 
visit  to  Jehoram,  king  of  Israel,  and  the  murder  of  the 
two  kings  by  Jehu,  is  very  much  abridged.  The 
chronicler  carefully  omits  all  reference  to  Elisha, 
according  to  his  usual  principle  of  ignoring  the  religious 
life  of  Northern  Israel ;  but  he  expressly  tells  us  that, 
like  Jehoshaphat,  Ahaziah  suffered  for  consorting  with 
the  house  of  Omri :  "  His  destruction  or  treading  down 
was  of  God  in  that  he  went  unto  Jehoram."  Our  English 
versions  have  carefully  reproduced  an  ambiguity  in 
the  original ;  but  it  seems  probable  that  the  shronicler 
does  not  mean  that  visiting  Jehoram  in  his  illness  was 
a  flagrant  offence  which  God  punished  with  death,  but 
rather  that,  to  punish  Ahaziah  for  his  inntation  of  the 
evil-doings  of  the  house  of  Omri,^  God  allowed  him  to 
visit  Jehoram  in  order  that  he  might  share  the  fate  of 
the  Israelite  king. 

The  book  of  Kings  had  stated  that  Jehu  slew  forty- 
two   brethren   of  Ahaziah.     It  is,  of  course,   perfectly 

'  We  need  not  discuss  in  detail  the  question  of  Ahaziah's  age  at  his 
accession.  The  age  of  forty-two,  given  in  2  Ohron.  xxii.  2,  is  simply 
impossible,  seeing  that  his  father  was  only  forty  years  old  when  he 
died.  The  Peshito  and  Arabic  versions  have  followed  2  Kings  viii. 
26,  and  altered  forty-two  to  twenty-two ;  and  the  LXX.  reads  twenty 
years.  But  twenty-two  years  still  presents  difficulties.  According  to 
this  reading,  Ahaziah,  Jehoram's  youngest  son,  was  born  when  his 
father  was  only  eighteen,  and  Jehoram  having  had  several  sons  before 
the  age  of  eighteen,  had  none  afterwards. 

^  xxii.  7  a,  peculiar  to  Chronicles, 


400  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

allowable  to  take  "  brethren "  in  the  general  sense  of 
"  kinsmen  "  ;  but  as  the  chroni<:ler  had  recently  mentioned 
the  massacre  of  all  Ahaziah's  brethren,  he  avoids  even 
the  appearance  of  a  contradiction  by  substituting  "  sons 
of  the  brethren  of  Ahaziah"  for  brethren.  This 
alteration  introduces  new  difficulties,  but  these  difficulties 
simply  illustrate  the  general  confusion  of  numbers  and 
ages  which  characterises  the  narrative  at  this  point.  In 
connection  with  the  burial  of  Ahaziah,  it  may  be  noted 
that  the  popular  recollection  of  Jehoshaphat  endorsed  the 
favourable  judgment  contained  in  the  "  writing  of 
Elijah  "  :  "  They  said  "  of  Ahaziah,  "  He  is  the  son  of 
Jehoshaphat,  who  sought  Jehovah  with  all  his  heart." 

The  chronicler  next  narrates  Athaliah's  murder  of 
the  seed  royal  of  Judah  and  her  usurpation  of  the  throne 
of  David,  in  terms  almost  identical  with  those  of  the 
narrative  in  the  book  of  Kings.  But  his  previous 
additions  and  modifications  are  hard  to  reconcile  with 
the  account  he  here  borrows  from  his  ancient  authority. 
According  to  the  chronicler,  Jehoram  had  massacred  all 
the  other  sons  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  the  Arabians  had 
slain  all  Jehoram's  sons  except  Ahaziah,  and  Jehu  had 
slain  their  sons  ;  so  that  Ahaziah  was  the  only  living 
descendant  in  the  male  line  of  his  grandfather  Jehosha- 
phat ;  he  himself  apparently  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
three.  It  is  intelligible  enough  that  he  should  have  a 
son  Joash  and  possibly  other  sons ;  but  still  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  where  Athaliah  found  "all  the 
seed  royal "  and  *'  the  king's  sons "  whom  she  put  to 
death.  It  is  at  any  rate  clear  that  Jehoram's  slaughter 
of  his  brethren  met  with  an  appropriate  punishment : 
all  his  own  sons  and  grandsons  were  similarly  slain, 
except  the  child  Joash. 

The  chronicler's  narrative  of  the  revolution  by  which 


xxi.-xxiii.]    JEHORAM,  AHAZIAH,  AND  ATHALIAH        401 

Athaliah  was  slain,  and  the  throne  recovered  for  the 
house  of  David  in  the  person  of  Joash,  follows  sub- 
stantially the  earlier  history,  the  chief  difference  being, 
as  we  have  already  noticed,  ^  that  the  chronicler  sub- 
stitutes the  Levitical  guard  of  the  second  Temple  for 
the  bodyguard  of  foreign  mercenaries  who  were  the 
actual  agents  in  this  revolution. 

A  distinguished  authority  on  European  history  is 
fond  of  pointing  to  the  evil  effects  of  royal  marriages  as 
one  of  the  chief  drawbacks  to  the  monarchical  system  of 
government.  A  crown  may  at  any  time  devolve  upon 
a  woman,  and  by  her  marriage  with  a  powerful  reigning 
prince  her  country  may  virtually  be  subjected  to  a 
foreign  yoke.  If  it  happens  that  the  new  sovereign 
professes  a  different  religion  from  that  of  his  wife's 
subjects,  the  evils  arising  from  the  marriage  are  seriously 
aggravated.  Some  such  fate  befell  the  Netherlands  as 
the  result  of  the  marriage  of  Mary  of  Burgundy  with  the 
Emperor  Maximilian,  and  England  was  only  saved 
from  the  danger  of  transference  to  Catholic  dominion  by 
the  caution  and  patriotism  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

Athaliah's  usurpation  was  a  bold  attempt  to  reverse 
the  usual  process  and  transfer  the  husband's  dominions 
to  the  authority  and  faith  of  the  wife's  family.  It  is 
probable  that  Athaliah's  permanent  success  would  have 
led  to  the  absorption  of  Judah  in  the  northern  kingdom. 
This  last  misfortune  was  averted  by  the  energy  and 
courage  of  Jehoiada,  but  in  the  meantime  the  half- 
heathen  queen  had  succeeded  in  causing  untold  harm 
and  suffering  to  her  adopted  country.  Our  own  history 
furnishes  numerous  illustrations  of  the  evil  influences 
that  come  in  the  train  of  foreign  queens.     Edward  II. 

'  Cf.  p.  20 

26 


402  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

suffered  grievously  at  the  hands  of  his  French  queen  ; 
Henry  VI. 's  wife,  Margaret  of  Anjou,  contributed  con- 
siderably to  the  prolonged  bitterness  of  the  struggle 
between  York  and  Lancaster;  and  to  Henry  VHI.'s 
marriage  with  Catherine  of  Aragon  the  country  owed 
the  miseries  and  persecutions  inflicted  by  Mary  Tudor. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  foreign  princesses 
who  have  shared  the  English  throne  have  won  the 
lasting  gratitude  of  the  nation.  A  French  queen  of 
Kent,  for  instance,  opened  the  way  for  Augustine's 
mission  to  England. 

But  no  foreign  queen  of  England  has  had  the  oppor- 
tunities for  mischief  that  were  enjoyed  and  fully  utilised 
by  Athaliah.  She  corrupted  her  husband  and  her 
son,  and  she  was  probably  at  once  the  instigator  of 
their  crimes  and  the  instrument  of  their  punishment. 
By  corrupting  the  rulers  of  Judah  and  by  her  own 
misgovernment,  she  exercised  an  evil  influence  over  the 
nation ;  and  as  the  people  suffered,  not  for  their  sins 
only,  but  also  for  those  of  their  kings,  Athaliah  brought 
misfortunes  and  calamity  upon  Judah.  Unfortunately 
such  experiences  are  not  confined  to  royal  families ;  the 
peace  and  honour,  and  prosperity  of  godly  families  in 
all  ranks  of  life  have  been  disturbed  and  often  destroyed 
by  the  marriage  of  one  of  their  members  with  a  woman 
of  alien  spirit  and  temperament.  Here  is  a  very 
general  and  practical  application  of  the  chronicler's 
objection  to  intercourse  with  the  house  of  Omri. 


CHAPTER    VI 

JOASH  AND  AMAZIAH 
2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv 

FOR  Chronicles,  as  for  the  book  of  Kings,  the  main 
interest  of  the  reign  of  Joash  is  the  repairing  of 
the  Temple  ;  but  the  later  narrative  introduces  modifica- 
tions which  give  a  somewhat  different  complexion  to 
the  story.  Both  authorities  tell  us  that  Joash  did  that 
which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah  all  the  days  of 
Jehoiada,  but  the  book  of  Kings  immediately  adds  that 
"  the  high  places  were  not  taken  away  :  the  people 
still  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  in  the  high  places." 
Seeing  that  Jehoiada  exercised  the  royal  authority 
during  the  minority  of  Joash,  this  toleration  of  the  high 
places  must  have  had  the  sanction  of  the  high-priest. 
Now  the  chfonicler  and  his  contemporaries  had  been 
educated  in  the  belief  that  the  Pentateuch  was  the 
ecclesiastical  code  of  the  monarchy ;  they  found  it 
impossible  to  credit  a  statement  that  the  high-priest 
had  sanctioned  any  other  sanctuary  besides  the  temple 
of  Zion ;  accordingly  they  omitted  the  verse  in 
question. 

In  the  earlier  narrative  of  the  repairing  of  the  Temple 

'  Cf.  XXV.  2  with  2  Kings  xiv.  4,  xxvi.  4  with  2  Kings  xv.  4,  xxvii.  2 
with  2  King«  xv,  34,  where  similar  statements  are  omitted  by  the 
chronicler, 

403 


404  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

the  priests  are  ordered  by  Joash  to  use  certain  sacred 
dues  and  offerings  to  repair  the  breaches  of  the  house ; 
but  after  some  time  had  elapsed  it  was  found  that  the 
breaches  had  not  been  repaired :  and  when  Joash 
remonstrated  with  the  priests,  they  flatly  refused  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  repairs  or  with  receiving 
funds  for  the  purpose.  Their  objections  were,  however, 
overruled ;  and  Jehoiada  placed  beside  the  altar  a  chest 
with  a  hole  in  the  lid,  into  which  "the  priests  put 
all  the  money  that  was  brought  into  the  house  of 
Jehovah."  ^  When  it  was  sufficiently  full,  the  king's 
scribe  and  the  high-priest  counted  the  money,  and  put 
it  up  in  bags. 

There  were  several  points  in  this  earlier  narrative 
which  would  have  furnished  very  inconvenient  pre- 
cedents, and  were  so  much  out  of  keeping  with  the 
ideas  and  practices  of  the  second  Temple  that,  by  the 
time  the  chronicler  wrote,  a  new  and  more  intelligible 
version  of  the  story  was  current  among  the  ministers 
of  the  Temple.  To  begin  with,  there  was  an  omission 
which  would  have  grated  very  unpleasantly  on  the 
feelings  of  the  chronicler.  In  this  long  narrative,  wholly 
taken  up  with  the  affairs  of  the  Temple,  nothing  is  said 
about  the  Levites.  The  collecting  and  receiving  of 
money  might  well  be  supposed  to  belong  to  them ;  and 
accordingly  in  Chronicles  the  Levites  are  first  associated 
with  the  priests  in  this  matter,  and  then  the  priests 
drop  out  of  the  narrative,  and  the  Levites  alone  carry 
out  the  financial  arrangements. 

Again,  it  might  be  understood  from  the  book  of  Kings 
that  sacred  dues  and  offerings,  which  formed  the 
revenue  of  the  priests  and  Levites,  were  diverted  by 

'  2  Kings  xii.  9. 


2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv.]  JOASH  AND   AMAZIAH  405 

the  king's  orders  to  the  repair  of  the  fabric.  The 
chronicler  was  naturally  anxious  that  there  should 
be  no  mistake  on  this  point ;  the  ambiguous  phrases 
are  omitted,  and  it  is  plainly  indicated  that  funds 
were  raised  for  the  repairs  by  means  of  a  special  tax 
ordained  by  Moses.  Joash  "  assembled  the  priests  and 
the  Levites,  and  said  to  them,  Go  out  into  the  cities  of 
Judah,  and  gather  of  all  Israel  money  to  repair  the 
house  of  your  God  from  year  to  year,  and  see  that  ye 
hasten  the  matter,  Howbeit  the  Levites  hastened  it 
not."  The  remissness  of  the  priests  in  the  original 
narrative  is  here  very  faithfully  and  candidly  transferred 
to  the  Levites.  Then,  as  in  the  book  of  Kings,  Joash 
remonstrates  with  Jehoiada,  but  the  terms  of  his 
remonstrance  are  altogether  different :  here  he  complains 
because  the  Levites  have  not  been  required  "  to  bring 
in  out  of  Judah  and  out  of  Jerusalem  the  tax  appointed 
by  Moses  the  servant  of  Jehovah  and  by  the  congrega- 
tion of  Israel  for  the  tent  of  the  testimony,"  />.,  the 
Tabernacle,  containing  the  Ark  and  the  tables  of  the 
Law.  The  reference  apparently  is  to  the  law^  that 
when  a  census  was  taken  a  poll-tax  of  a  half-shekel  a 
head  should  be  paid  for  the  service  of  the  Tabernacle. 
As  one  of  the  main  uses  of  a  census  was  to  facilitate 
the  raising  of  taxes,  this  law  might  not  unfairly  be 
interpreted  to  mean  that  when  occasion  arose,  or 
perhaps  even  every  year,  a  census  should  be  taken  in 
order  that  this  poll-tax  might  be  levied.  Nehemiah 
arranged  for  a  yearly  poll-tax  of  a  third  of  a  shekel 
for  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  Temple.^  Here, 
however,  the  half-shekel  prescribed  in  Exodus  is 
intended ;  and  it  should  be  observed  that  this  poll-tax 

'  Exod.  XXX.  11-16.  ^  Neh.  x.  32. 


4o6  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

was  to  be  levied,  not  once  only,  but  * '  from  year  to 
year."  The  chronicler  then  inserts  a  note  to  explain 
why  these  repairs  were  necessary :  "  The  sons  of 
Athaliah,  that  wicked  woman,  had  broken  up  the 
house  of  God ;  and  also  all  the  dedicated  things  of  the 
house  of  Jehovah  they  bestowed  upon  the  Baals," 
Here  we  are  confronted  with  a  further  difficulty.  All 
Jehoram's  sons  except  Ahaziah  were  murdered  by  the 
Arabs  in  their  father's  life-time.  Who  are  these  "  sons 
of  Athaliah "  who  broke  up  the  Temple  ?  Jehoram 
was  about  thirty-seven  when  his  sons  were  massacred, 
so  that  s'ome  of  them  may  have  been  old  enough  to 
break  up  the  Temple.  One  would  think  that  "  the 
dedicated  things "  might  have  been  recovered  for 
Jehovah  when  Athaliah  was  overthrown ;  but  possibly, 
when  the  people  retaliated  by  breaking  into  the  house 
of  Baal,  there  were  Achans  among  them,  who  appro- 
priated the  plunder. 

Having  remonstrated  with  Jehoiada,  the  king  took 
matters  into  his  own  hands ;  and  he,  not  Jehoiada,  had 
a  chest  made  and  placed,  not  beside  the  altar— such  an 
arrangement  savoured  of  profanity — but  without  at 
the  gate  of  the  Temple.  This  little  touch  is  very 
suggestive.  The  noise  and  bustle  of  paying  over 
money,  receiving  it,  and  putting  it  into  the  chest,  would 
have  mingled  distractingly  with  the  solemn  ritual  of 
sacrifice.  In  modern  times  the  tinkle  of  threepenny 
pieces  often  tends  to  mar  the  effect  of  an  impressive 
appeal  and  to  disturb  the  quiet  influences  of  a  com- 
munion service.  The  Scotch  arrangement,  by  which 
a  plate  covered  with  a  fair  white  cloth  is  placed  in  the 
porch  of  a  church  and  guarded  by  two  modern  Levites 
or  elders,  is  much  more  in  accordance  with  Chronicles. 

Then,  instead  of  sending  out  Levites  to  collect  the 


2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv.]         JO  ASH  AND   AMAZIAH  407 


tax,  proclamation  was  made  that  the  people  themselves 
should  bring  their  offerings.  Obedience  apparently 
was  made  a  matter  of  conscience,  not  of  solicitation. 
Perhaps  it  was  because  the  Levites  felt  that  sacred 
dues  should  be  given  freely  that  they  were  not  for- 
ward to  make  yearly  tax-collecting  expeditions.  At 
any  rate,  the  new  method  was  signally  successful. 
Day  after  day  the  princes  and  people  gladly  brought 
their  offerings,  and  money  was  gathered  in  abundance. 
Other  passages  suggest  that  the  chronicler  was  not 
always  inclined  to  trust  to  the  spontaneous  generosity 
of  the  people  for  the  support  of  the  priests  and  Levites  ; 
but  he  plainly  recognised  that  free-will  offerings  are 
more  excellent  than  the  donations  which  are  painfully 
extracted  by  the  yearly  visits  of  oflficial  collectors.  He 
would  probably  have  sympathised  with  the  abolition 
of  pew-rents. 

As  in  the  book  of  Kings,  the  chest  was  emptied  at 
suitable  intervals ;  but  instead  of  the  high-priest  being 
associated  with  the  king's  scribe,  as  if  they  were  on 
a  level  and  both  of  them  officials  of  the  royal  court,  the 
chief  priest's  officer  assists  the  king's  scribe,  so  that  the 
chief  priest  is  placed  on  a  level  with  the  king  himself 

The  details  of  the  repairs  in  the  two  narratives  differ 
considerably  in  form,  but  for  the  most  part  agree  in 
substance ;  the  only  striking  point  is  that  they  are 
apparently  at  variance  as  to  whether  vessels  of  silver 
or  gold  were  or  were  not  made  for  the  renovated 
Temple. 

Then  follows  the  account^  of  the  ingratitude  and 
apostacy  of  Joash  and  his  people.  As  long  as  Jehoiada 
lived,  the  services  of  the  Temple  were  regularly  per- 

'  xxiv.  14-22,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


4o8  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


formed,  and  Judah  remained  faithful  to  its  God  ;  but 
at  last  he  died,  full  of  days  :  a  hundred  and  thirty  years 
old.  In  his  life-time  he  had  exercised  royal  authority, 
and  when  he  died  he  was  buried  like  a  king :  "  They 
buried  him  in  the  city  of  David  among  the  kings, 
because  he  had  done  good  in  Israel  and  toward  God 
and  His  house."  ^  Like  Nero  when  he  shook  off  the 
control  of  Seneca  and  Burrhus,  Joash  changed  his 
policy  as  soon  as  Jehoiada  was  dead.  Apparently  he 
was  a  weak  character,  always  following  some  one's 
leading.  His  freedom  from  the  influence  that  had 
made  his  early  reign  decent  and  honourable  was  not, 
as  in  Nero's  case,  his  own  act.  The  change  of  policy 
was  adopted  at  the  suggestion  of  the  princes  of  Judah. 
King,  princes,  and  people  fell  back  into  the  old  wicked- 
ness ;  they  forsook  the  Temple  and  served  idols.  Yet 
Jehovah  did  not  readily  give  them  up  to  their  own 
folly,  nor  hastily  inflict  punishment ;  He  sent,  not  one 
prophet,  but  many,  to  bring  them  back  to  Himself,  but 
they  would  not  hearken.  At  last  Jehovah  made  one 
last  effort  to  win  Joash  back  ;  this  time  He  chose  for 
His  messenger  a  priest  who  had  special  personal  claims 
on  the  favourable  attention  of  the  king.  The  prophet 
was  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada,  to  whom  Joash 
owed  his  life  and  his  throne.  The  name  was  a  favourite 
one  in  Israel,  and  was  borne  by  two  other  prophets 
besides  the  son  of  Jehoiada.  Its  very  etymology  con- 
stituted an  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  Joash :  it  is 
compounded  of  the  sacred  name  and  a  root  meaning 
"to  remember."  The  Jews  were  adepts  at  extracting 
from  such  a  combination  all  its  possible  applications. 

'  Curiously  enough,  Jehoiada's  name  does  not  occur  in  the  list  of 
high-priests  in  I  Chron.  vi.  I-I2. 


2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv.]         JOASH  AND   AMAZIAH  409 


The  most  obvious  was  that  Jehovah  would  remember 
the  sin  of  Judah,  but  the  recent  prophets  sent  to  recall 
the  sinners  to  their  God  showed  that  Jehovah  also 
remembered  their  former  righteousness  and  desired  to 
recall  it  to  them  and  them  to  it ;  they  should  remember 
Jehovah.  Moreover,  Joash  should  remember  the 
teaching  of  Jehoiada  and  his  obligations  to  the  father 
of  the  man  now  addressing  him.  Probably  Joash  did 
remember  all  this  when,  in  the  striking  Hebrew  idiom, 
"the  spirit  of  God  clothed  itself  with  Zechariah  the 
son  of  Jehoiada  the  priest,  and  he  stood  above  the 
people  and  said  unto  them.  Thus  saith  God :  Why 
transgress  ye  the  commandments  of  Jehovah,  to  your 
hurt  ?  Because  ye  have  forsaken  Jehovah,  He  hath 
also  forsaken  you."  This  is  the  burden  of  the  pro- 
phetic utterances  in  Chronicles  ^ ;  the  converse  is  stated 
by  Irenaeus  when  he  says  that  to  follow  the  Saviour 
is  to  partake  of  salvation.  Though  the  truth  of 
this  teaching  had  been  enforced  again  and  again  by 
the  misfortunes  that  had  befallen  Judah  under  apostate 
kings,  Joash  paid  no  heed  to  it,  nor  did  he  remember 
the  kindness  which  Jehoiada  had  done  him  ;  that  is  to 
say,  he  showed  no  gratitude  towards  the  house  of 
Jehoiada.  Perhaps  an  uncomfortable  sense  of  obliga- 
tion to  the  father  only  embittered  him  the  more  against 
his  son.  But  the  son  of  the  high-priest  could  not  be 
dealt  with  as  summarily  as  Asa  dealt  with  Hanani 
when  he  put  him  in  prison..  The  king  might  have 
been  indifferent  to  the  wrath  of  Jehovah,  but  the  son 
of  the  man  who  had  for  years  ruled  Judah  and 
Jerusalem  must  have  had  a  strong  party  at  his  back. 


'   I  Chron.  xxviii.  9;   2  Chron.  vii.  19,  xii.  5,  xiii.  lO,  xv.  2,  xxi.  10, 
xxviii.  6,  xxix.  6,  xxxiv.  25. 


4IO  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Accordingly  the  king  and  his  adherents  conspired  against 
Zechariah,  and  they  stoned  him  with  stones  by  the  king's 
command.  This  Old  Testament  martyr  died  in  a  very 
different  spirit  from  that  of  Stephen ;  his  prayer  was, 
not,  "  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge,"  but 
"Jehovah,  look  upon  it  and  require  it."  His  prayer 
did  not  long  remain  unanswered.  Within  a  year  the 
Syrians  ^  came  against  Joash ;  he  had  a  very  great  host, 
but  he  was  powerless  against  a  small  company  of 
the  Divinely  commissioned  avengers  of  Zechariah. 
The  tempters  who  had  seduced  the  king  into  apostacy 
were  a  special  mark  for  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  :  the 
Syrians  destroyed  all  the  princes,  and  sent  their  spoil 
to  the  king  of  Damascus.  Like  Asa  and  Jehoram, 
Joash  suffered  personal  punishment  in  the  shape  of 
"great  diseases,"  but  his  end  was  even  more  tragic 
than  theirs.  One  conspiracy  avenged  another  :  in  his 
own  household  there  were  adherents  of  the  family  of 
Jehoiada  :  "Two  of  his  own  servants  conspired  against 
him  for  the  blood  of  Zechariah,  and  slew  him  on  his 
bed ;  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David,  and  not 
in  the  sepulchres  of  the  kings." 

The  chronicler's  biography  of  Joash  might  have  been 
specially  designed  to  remind  his  readers  that  the  most 
careful  education  must  sometimes  fail  of  its  purpose. 
Joash  had  been  trained  from  his  earliest  years  in  the 
Temple  itself,  under  the  care  of  Jehoiada  and  of  his  aunt 
Jehoshabeath,  the  high-priest's  wife.  He  had  no 
doubt  been  carefully  instructed  in  the  religion  and 
sacred  history  of  Israel,  and  had  been  continually  sur- 
rounded by  the  best  religious  influences  of  his  age.     For 


'  Cf.  2  Kings  xii.   17,   18,  of  which  this  narrative  is  probably  an 
adaptation. 


2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv.]  JOASH  AND   AMAZIAH  411 

Judah,  in  the  chronicler's  estimation,  was  even  then 
the  one  home  of  the  true  faith.  These  holy  influences 
had  been  continued  after  Joash  had  attained  to  manhood, 
and  Jehoiada  was  careful  to  provide  that  the  young 
king's  harem  should  be  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  piety 
and  good  government.  We  may  be  sure  that  the  two 
wives  whom  Jehoiada  selected  for  his  pupil  were 
consistent  worshippers  of  Jehovah  and  loyal  to  the  Law 
and  the  Temple.  No  daughter  of  the  house  of  Ahab, 
no  "  strange  wife "  from  Egypt,  Ammon,  or  Moab, 
would  be  allowed  the  opportunity  of  undoing  the  good 
effects  of  early  training.  Moreover,  we  might  have 
expected  the  character  developed  by  education  to  be 
strengthened  by  exercise.  The  early  years  of  his 
reign  were  occupied  by  zealous  activity  in  the  service 
of  the  Temple.  The  pupil  outstripped  his  master,  and 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  youthful  king  found  occasion  to 
rebuke  the  tai-dy  zeal  of  the  venerable  high-priest. 

And  yet  all  this  fair  promise  was  blighted  in  a  day. 
The  piety  carefully  fostered  for  half  a  life-time  gave 
way  before  the  first  assaults  of  temptation,  and  never 
even  attempted  to  reassert  itself.  Possibly  the  brief 
and  fragmentary  records  from  which  the  chronicler  had 
to.  make  his  selection  unduly  emphasise  the  contrast 
between  the  earlier  and  later  years  of  the  reign  of 
Joash ;  but  the  picture  he  draws  of  the  failure  of 
best  of  tutors  and  governors  is  unfortunately  only  too 
typical.  Julian  the  Apostate  was  educated  by  a 
distinguished  Christian  prelate,  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia 
and  was  trained  in  a  strict  routine  of  religious 
observances ;  yet  he  repudiated  Christianity  at  the 
earliest  safe  opportunity.  His  apostacy,  like  that  of 
Joash,  was  probably  characterised  by  base  ingratitude. 
At    Constantine's    death  the  troops    in    Constantinople 


412  THE   BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

massacred  nearly  all  the  princes  of  the  imperial  family, 
and  Julian,  then  only  six  years  old,  is  said  to  have  been 
saved  and  concealed  in  a  church  by  Mark,  Bishop  of 
Arethusa.  When  Julian  became  emperor,  he  repaid  this 
obligation  by  subjecting  his  benefactor  to  cruel  tortures 
because  he  had  destroyed  a  heathen  temple  and  refused 
to  make  any  compensation.  Imagine  Joash  requiring 
Jehoiada  to  make  compensation  for  pulling  down  a  high 
place  ! 

The  parallel  of  Julian  may  suggest  a  partial  explana- 
tion of  the  fall  of  Joash.  The  tutelage  of  Jehoiada 
may  have  been  too  strict,  monotonous,  and  prolonged ; 
in  choosing  wives  for  the  young  king,  the  aged  priest 
may  not  have  made  an  altogether  happy  selection ; 
Jehoiada  may  have  kept  Joash  under  control  until  he 
was  incapable  of  independence  and  could  only  pass  from 
one  dominant  influence  to  another.  When  the  high- 
priest's  death  gave  the  king  an  opportunity  of  changing 
his  masters,  a  reaction  from  the  too  urgent  insistence 
upon  his  duty  to  the  Temple  may  have  inclined  Joash 
to  listen  favourably  to  the  solicitations  of  the  princes. 

But  perhaps  the  sins  of  Joash  are  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  his  ancestry.  His  mother  was  Zibiah  of 
Beersheba,  and  therefore  probably  a  Jewess.  Of  her 
we  know  nothing  further  good  or  bad.  Otherwise  his 
ancestors  for  two  generations  had  been  uniformly  bad. 
His  father  and  grandfather  were  the  wicked  kings 
Jehoram  and  Ahaziah  ;  his  grandmother  was  Athaliah  ; 
and  he  was  descended  from  Ahab,  and  possibly  from 
Jezebel.  When  we  recollect  that  his  mother  Zibiah 
was  a  wife  of  Ahaziah  and  had  probably  been  selected 
by  Athaliah,  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  element  she 
contributed  to  his  character  would  do  much  to  counteract 
the  evil  he  inherited  from  his  father. 


2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv.]         JOASH  AND   AMAZIAH  413 

The  chronicler's  account  of  his  successor  Amaziah  is 
equally  disappointing ;  he  also  began  well  and  ended 
miserably.  In  the  opening  formulae  of  the  history  of 
the  new  reign  and  in  the  account  of  the  punishment  of 
the  assassins  of  Joash,  the  chronicler  closely  follows  the 
earlier  narrative,  omitting,  as  usual,  the  statement  that 
this  good  king  did  not  take  away  the  high  places. 
Like  his  pious  predecessors,  Amaziah  in  his  earlier  and 
better  years  was  rewarded  with  a  great  army  ^  and 
military  success  ;  and  yet  the  muster-roll  of  his  forces 
shows  how  the  sins  and  calamities  of  the  recent  wicked 
reigns  had  told  on  the  resources  of  Judah.  Jehoshaphat 
could  command  more  than  eleven  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  soldiers ;  Amaziah  has  only  three  hundred 
thousand. 

These  were  not  sufficient  for  the  king's  ambition  ;  by 
the  Divine  grace,  he  had  already  amassed  wealth,  in 
spite  of  the  Syrian  ravages  at  the  close  of  the  preceding 
reign  :  and  he  laid  out  a  hundred  talents  of  silver  in 
purchasing  the  services  of  as  many  thousand  Israelites, 
thus  falling  into  the  sin  for  which  Jehoshaphat  had 
twice  been  reproved  and  punished.  Jehovah,  however, 
arrested  Amaziah's  employment  of  unholy  allies  at  the 
outset.  A  man  of  God  came  to  him  and  exhorted  him 
not  to  let  the  army  of  Israel  go  with  him,  because 
"  Jehovah  is  not  with  Israel " ;  if  he  had  courage  and 
faith  to  go  with  only  his  three  hundred  thousand  Jews, 
all  would  be  well,  otherwise  God  would  cast  him  down, 
as  He  had  done  Ahaziah.  The  statement  that  Jehovah 
was  not  with  Israel  might  have  been  understood  in  a 
sense    that   would    seem    almost    blasphemous    to    the 

'  XXV.  5-13,  peculiar  to  Chronicles,  except  that  the  account  of  the 
war  with  Edom  is  expanded  from  the  brief  note  in  Kings.  Cf.  ver. 
II  b  with  2  Kings  xiv.  7. 


414  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


chronicler's  contemporaries ;  he  is  careful  therefore 
to  explain  that  here  "  Israel"  simply  means  "  the 
children  of  Ephraim." 

Amaziah  obeyed  the  prophet,  but  was  naturally 
distressed  at  the  thought  that  he  had  spent  a  hundred 
talents  for  nothing :  "  What  shall  we  do  for  the 
hundred  talents  which  I  have  given  to  the  army  of 
Israel  ?  "  He  did  not  realise  that  the  Divine  alliance 
would  be  worth  more  to  him  than  many  hundred 
talents  of  silver ;  or  perhaps  he  reflected  that  Divine 
grace  is  free,  and  that  he  might  have  saved  his  money. 
One  would  like  to  believe  that  he  was  anxious  to 
recover  this  silver  in  order  to  devote  it  to  the  service 
of  the  sanctuary ;  but  he  was  evidently  one  of  those 
sordid  souls  who  like,  as  the  phrase  goes,  **  to  get  their 
religion  for  nothing."  No  wonder  Amaziah  went 
astray  !  We  can  scarcely  be  wrong  in  detecting  a  vein 
of  contempt  in  the  prophet's  answer  :  "  Jehovah  can 
give  thee  much  more  than  this." 

This  little  episode  carries  with  it  a  great  principle. 
Every  crusade  against  an  established  abuse  is  met 
with  the  cry,  "  What  shall  we  do  for  the  hundred 
talents  ?  ' — for  the  capital  invested  in  slaves  or  in 
gin-shops  ;  for  English  revenues  from  alcohol  or  Indian 
revenues  from  opium  ?  Few  have  faith  to  believe  that 
the  Lord  can  provide  for  financial  deficits,  or,  if  we 
may  venture  to  indicate  the  method  in  which  the  Lord 
provides,  that  a  nation  will  ever  be  able  to  pay  its  way  by 
honest  finance.  Let  us  note,  however,  that  Amaziah  was 
asked  to  sacrifice  his  own  talents,  and  not  other  people's. 

Accordingly  Amaziah  sent  the  mercenaries  home  ;  and 
they  returned  in  great  dudgeon,  offended  by  the  slight 
put  upon  them  and  disappointed  at  the  loss  of 
prospective  plunder.     The  king's  sin  in  hiring  Israelite 


2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv.]         JO  ASH  AND  AMAZIAH  415 

mercenaries  was  to  suffer  a  severer  punishment  than 
the  loss  of  money.  While  he  was  away  at  war,  his 
rejected  allies  returned,  and  attacked  the  border  cities,  ^ 
killed  three  thousand  Jews,  and  took  much  plunder. 

Meanwhile  Amaziah  and  his  army  were  reaping 
direct  fruits  of  their  obedience  in  Edom,  where  they 
gained  a  great  victory,  and  followed  it  up  by  a  massacre 
of  ten  thousand  captives,  whom  they  killed  by  throw- 
ing down  from  the  top  of  a  precipice.  Yet,  after 
all,  Amaziah's  victory  over  Edom  was  of  small  profit 
to  him,  for  he  was  thereby  seduced  into  idolatry. 
Amongst  his  other  prisoners,  he  had  brought  away  the 
gods  of  Edom ;  and  instead  of  throwing  them  over  a 
precipice,  as  a  pious  king  should  have  done,  "  he  set 
them  up  to  be  his  gods,  and  bowed  down  himself 
before  them,  and  burned  incense  unto  them." 

Then  Jehovah,  in  His  anger,  sent  a  prophet  to 
demand,  "  Why  hast  thou  sought  after  foreign  gods, 
which  have  not  delivered  their  own  people  out  of  thine 
hand  ?  "  According  to  current  ideas  outside  of  Israel, 
a  nation  might  very  reasonably  seek  after  the  gods  of 
their  conquerors.  Such  conquest  could  only  be  attri- 
buted to  the  superior  power  and  grace  of  the  gods  of 
the  victors :  the  gods  of  the  defeated  were  vanquished 
along  with  their  worshippers,  and  were  obviously 
incompetent  and  unworthy  of  further  confidence.  But 
to  act  like  Amaziah — to  go  out  to  battle  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah,  directed  and  encouraged  by  His  prophet,  to 
conquer  by  the  grace  of  the  God  of  Israel,  and  then  to 
desert    Jehovah   of  hosts,    the    Giver    of  victory,    for 

'  In  the  phrase  "from  Samaria  to  Beth-horon,"  "Samaria" 
apparently  means  the  northern  kingdom,  and  not  the  city,  i.e.,  from 
the  borders  of  Samaria ;  the  chronicler  has  fallen  into  the  nomen- 
clature of  his  own  age. 


41 6  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

the  paltry  and  discredited  idols  of  the  conquered 
Edomites — this  was  sheer  madness.  And  yet  as 
Greece  enslaved  her  Roman  conquerors,  so  the  victor 
has  often  been  won  to  the  faith  of  the  vanquished.  The 
Church  subdued  the  barbarians  who  had  overwhelmed 
the  empire,  and  the  heathen  Saxons  adopted  at  last 
the  religion  of  the  conquered  Britons.  Henry  IV.  of 
France  is  scarcely  a  parallel  to  Amaziah  :  he  went  to 
mass  that  he  might  hold  his  sceptre  with  a  firmer 
grasp,  while  the  king  of  Judah  merely  adopted  foreign 
idols  in  order  to  gratify  his  superstition  and  love  of 
novelty. 

Apparently  Amaziah  was  at  first  inclined  to  discuss 
the  question  :  he  and  the  prophet  talked  together  ;  but 
the  king  soon  became  irritated,  and  broke  off  the 
interview  with  abrupt  discourtesy :  "  Have  we  made 
thee  of  the  king's  counsel  ?  Forbear ;  why  shouldest 
thou  be  smitten  ? "  Prosperity  seems  to  have  been 
invariably  fatal  to  the  Jewish  kings  who  began  to  reign 
well ;  the  success  that  rewarded,  at  the  same  time 
destroyed  their  virtue.  Before  his  victory  Amaziah 
had  been  courteous  and  submissive  to  the  messenger  of 
Jehovah  ;  now  he  defied  Him  and  treated  His  prophet 
roughly.  The  latter  disappeared,  but  not  before  he 
had  declared  the  Divine  condemnation  of  the  stubborn 
king. 

The  rest  of  the  history  of  Amaziah — his  presumptuous 
war  with  Joash,  king  of  Israel,  his  defeat  and  degradation, 
and  his  assassination — is  taken  verbatim  from  the  book 
of  Kings,  with  a  few  modifications  and  editorial  notes 
by  the  chronicler  to  harmonise  these  sections  with  the 
rest  of  his  narrative.  For  instance,  in  the  book  of 
Kings  the  account  of  the  war  with  Joash  begins 
somewhat  abruptly  :  Amaziah  sends  his  defiance  before 


2  Chron.  xxiv.-xxv.]         JOASH  AND   AMAZIAH  417 

any  reason  has  been  given  for  his  action.  The 
chronicler  inserts  a  phrase  which  connects  his  new 
paragraph  very  suggestively  with  the  one  that  goes 
before.  The  former  concluded  with  the  king's  taunt 
that  the  prophet  was  not  of  his  counsel,  to  which  the 
prophet  replied  that  the  king  should  be  destroyed 
because  he  had  not  hearkened  to  the  Divine  counsel 
proffered  to  him.  Then  Amaziah  "  took  advice  "  ;  i.e.,  he 
consulted  those  who  were  of  his  counsel,  and  the  sequel 
showed  their  incompetence.  The  chronicler  also  explains 
that  Amaziah's  rash  persistence  in  his  challenge  to 
Joash  "  was  of  God,  that  He  might  deliver  them  into 
the  hand  of  their  enemies,  because  they  had  sought 
after  the  gods  of  Edom."  He  also  tells  us  that  the 
name  of  the  custodian  of  the  sacred  vessels  of  the 
Temple  was  Obed-edom.  As  the  chronicler  mentions 
five  Levites  of  the  name  of  Obed-edom,  four  of  whom 
occur  nowhere  else,  the  name  was  probably  common 
in  some  family  still  surviving  in  his  own  time.  But, 
in  view  of  the  fondness  of  the  Jews  for  significant 
etymology,  it  is  probable  that  the  name  is  recorded  here 
because  it  was  exceedingly  appropriate.  "  The  servant 
of  Edom"  suits  the  official  who  has  to  surrender  his 
sacred  charge  to  a  conqueror  because)  his  own  king  had 
worshipped  the  gods  of  Edom.  Lastly,  an  additional 
note  explains  that  Amaziah's  apostacy  had  promptly 
deprived  him  of  the  confidence  and  loyalty  of  his  sub- 
jects ;  the  conspiracy  which  led  to  his  assassination 
was  formed  from  the  time  that  he  turned  away  from 
following  Jehovah,  so  that  when  he  sent  his  proud 
challenge  to  Joash  his  authority  was  already  under- 
mined, and  there  were  traitors  in  the  army  which  he 
led  against  Israel.  We  are  shown  one  of  the  means 
used  by  Jehovah  to  bring  about  his  defeat. 

27 


CHAPTER   VII 

UZZIAH,  JOTHAM,  AND  AHAZ^ 
2  Chron.  xxvi.-xxviii. 

AFTER  the  assassination  of  Amaziah,  all  the  people 
of  Judah  took  his  son  Uzziah,  a  lad  of  sixteen, 
called  in  the  book  of  Kings  Azariah,  and  made  him 
king.  The  chronicler  borrows  from  the  older  narrative 
the  statement  that  "  Uzziah  did  that  which  was  right 
in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah,  according  to  all  that  his  father 
Amaziah  had  done."  In  the  light  of  the  sins  attributed 
both  to  Amaziah  and  Uzziah  in  Chronicles,  this  is  a 
somewhat  doubtful  compliment.  Sarcasm,  however, 
is  not  one  of  the  chronicler's  failings  ;  he  simply  allows 
the  older  history  to  speak  for  itself,  and  leaves  the 
reader  to  combine  its  judgment  with  the  statement  of 
later  tradition  as  best  he  can.  But  yet  we  might 
modify  this  verse,  and  read  that  Uzziah  did  good  and 
evil,  prospered  and  fell  into  misfortune,  according  to  all 
that  his  father  Amaziah  had  done,  or  an  even  closer 
parallel  might  be  drawn  between  what  Uzziah  did  and 
suffered  and  the  chequered  character  and  fortunes  of 
Joash. 

Though  much  older  than  the  latter,  at  his  accession 
Uzziah    was  young  enough    to    be  very  much    under 


'  For  the  discussion  of  the  chronicler's  account  of  Ahaz  see  Book 
III.,  Chap.  VII. 

418 


xxvi.-xxviii.]      UZZIAH,  JOTHAM,   AND  AHAZ  419 


the  control  of  ministers  and  advisers  ;  and  as  Joash 
was  trained  in  loyalty  to  Jehovah  by  the  high-priest 
Jehoiada,  so  Uzziah  "  set  himself  to  seek  God  during 
the  life-time  "  of  a  certain  prophet,  who,  like  the  son  of 
Jehoiada,  was  named  Zechariah,  "  who  had  under- 
standing or  gave  instruction  in  the  fear  of  Jehovah,"  ^  i.e.^ 
a  man  versed  in  sacred  learning,  rich  in  spiritual 
experience,  and  able  to  communicate  his  knowledge, 
such  a  one  as  Ezra  the  scribe  in  later  days. 

Under  the  guidance  of  this  otherwise  unknown 
prophet,  the  young  king  was  led  to  conform  his  private 
life  and  public  administration  to  the  will  of  God.  In 
"  seeking  God,"  Uzziah  would  be  careful  to  maintain 
and  attend  the  Temple  services,  to  honour  the  priests 
of  Jehovah  and  make  due  provision  for  their  wants  ; 
and  "  as  long  as  he  sought  Jehovah  God  gave  him 
prosperity." 

Uzziah  received  all  the  rewards  usually  bestowed 
upon  pious  kings  :  he  was  victorious  in  war,  and  exacted 
tribute  from  neighbouring  states  ;  he  built  fortresses, 
and  had  abundance  of  cattle  and  slaves,  a  large  and 
well-equipped  army,  and  well-supplied  arsenals.  Like 
other  powerful  kings  of  Judah,  he  asserted  his  supre- 
macy over  the  tribes  along  the  southern  frontier  of 
his  kingdom.  God  helped  him  against  the  Philistines, 
the  Arabians  of  Gur-baal,  and  the  Meunim.  He 
destroyed  the  fortifications  of  Gath,  Jabne,  and  Ashdod, 
and    built    forts    of    his    own    in    the    country    of  the 

'  So  R.V.  marg.,  with  LXX.,  Targum,  Syriac  and  Arabic  versions, 
Talmud,  Rashi,  Kimchi,  and  some  Hebrew  manuscripts  (Bertheau,  i. 
i).  A.R.V.,  "had  understanding  in  the  visions"  (R.V.  vision)  "of 
God."  The  difference  between  the  two  Hebrew  readings  is  very 
slight.  Vv.  5-20,  with  the  exception  of  the  bare  fact  of  the  leprosy 
are  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


420  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


Philistines.  Nothing  is  known  about  Gur-baal ;  but 
the  Arabian  alHes  of  the  Phihstines  would  be,  like 
Jehoram's  enemies  **  the  Arabians  who  dwelt  near  the 
Ethiopians,"  nomads  of  the  deserts  south  of  Judah, 
These  Philistines  and  Arabians  had  brought  tribute 
to  Jehoshaphat  without  waiting  to  be  subdued  by  his 
armies;  so  now  the  Ammonites  gave  gifts  to  Uzziah,  and 
his  name  spread  abroad  "  even  to  the  entering  in  of 
Egypt,"  possibly  a  hundred  or  even  a  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  from  Jerusalem,  It  is  evident  that  the 
chronicler's  ideas  of  international  politics  were  of  very 
modest  dimensions. 

Moreover,  Uzziah  added  to  the  fortifications  of 
Jerusalem ;  and  because  he  loved  husbandry  and  had 
cattle,  and  husbandmen,  and  vine-dressers  in  the  open 
country  and  outlying  districts  of  Judah,  he  built  towers 
for  their  protection.  His  army  was  of  about  the  same 
strength  as  that  of  Amaziah,  three  hundred  thousand 
men,  so  that  in  this,  as  in  his  character  and  exploits,  he 
did  according  to  all  that  his  father  had  done,  except 
that  he  was  content  with  his  own  Jewish  warriors  and 
did  not  waste  his  talents  in  purchasing  worse  than 
useless  reinforcements  from  Israel.  Uzziah's  army 
was  well  disciplined,  carefully  organised,  and  constantly 
employed ;  they  were  men  of  mighty  power,  and  went 
out  to  war  by  bands,  to  collect  the  king's  tribute  and 
enlarge  his  dominions  and  revenue  by  new  conquests. 
The  war  material  in  his  arsenals  is  described  at  greater 
length  than  that  of  any  previous  king:  shields,  spears, 
helmets,  coats  of  mail,  bows  and  stones  for  slings. 
The  great  advance  of  military  science  in  Uzziah's  reign 
was  marked  by  the  invention  of  engines  of  war  for  the 
defence  of  Jerusalem ;  some,  like  the  Roman  catapulta, 
were  for  arrows,  and  others,  like  the   ballista,  to  hurl 


xxvi.-xxviii.]      UZZIAH,  JOTHAM,   AND  AHAZ  421 

huge  stones.  Though  the  Assyrian  sculptures  show 
us  that  battering-rams  were  freely  employed  by  them 
against  the  walls  of  Jewish  cities/  and  the  ballista  is 
said  by  Pliny  to  have  been  invented  in  Syria/  no  other 
Hebrew  king  is  credited  with  the  possession  of  this 
primitive  artillery.  The  chronicler  or  his  authority 
seems  profoundly  impressed  by  the  great  skill  displayed 
in  this  invention  ;  in  describing  it,  he  uses  the  root 
hdshabhj  to  devise,  three  times  in  three  consecutive 
v/ords.  The  engines  were  ^^  hishshebhonoth  mahiXshe- 
bheth  hoshebh  " — "  engines  engineered  by  the  ingenious." 
Jehovah  not  only  provided  Uzziah  with  ample  military 
resources  of  every  kind,  but  also  blessed  the  means 
which  He  Himself  had  furnished ;  Uzziah  "  was 
marvellously  helped,  till  he  was  strong,  and  his  name 
spread  far  abroad."  The  neighbouring  states  heard 
with  admiration  of  his  military  resources. 

The  student  of  Chronicles  will  by  this  time  be  pre- 
pared for  the  invariable  sequel  to  God-given  prosperity. 
Like  David,  Rehoboam,  Asa,  and  Amaziah,  when 
Uzziah  "was  strong,  his  heart  was  lifted  up  to  his 
destruction."  The  most  powerful  of  the  kings  of  Judah 
died  a  leper.  An  attack  of  leprosy  admitted  of  only 
one  explanation :  it  was  a  plague  inflicted  by  Jehovah 
Himself  as  the  punishment  of  sin  ;  and  so  the  book  of 
Kings  tells  us  that  "Jehovah  smote  the  king,"  but  says 
nothing  about  the  sin  thus  punished.  The  chronicler 
v\'as  able  to  supply  the  omission  :  Uzziah  had  dared 
to  go  into  the  Temple  and  with  irregular  zeal  to 
burn  incense  on  the  altar  of  incense.  In  so  doing,  he 
was  violating  the  Law,  which  made  the  priestly  office 


'  Cf.  Ezek.  xxvi.  g. 

'^  Pliny,  vii.  56,  apud  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 


422  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

and  all  priestly  functions  the  exclusive  prerogative  of 
the  house  of  Aaron  and  denounced  the  penalty  of 
death  against  any  one  who  usurped  priestly  functions.  ^ 
But  Uzziah  was  not  allowed  to  carry  out  his  unholy 
design ;  the  high-priest  Azariah  went  in  after  him  with 
eighty  stalwart  colleagues,  rebuked  his  presumption, 
and  bade  him  leave  the  sanctuary.  Uzziah  was  no 
more  tractable  to  the  admonitions  of  the  priest  than 
Asa  and  Amaziah  had  been  to  those  of  the  pro- 
phets. The  kings  of  Judah  were  accustomed,  even  in 
Chronicles,  to  exercise  an  unchallenged  control  over 
the  Temple  and  to  regard  the  high-priests  very  much 
in  the  light  of  private  chaplains.  Uzziah  was  wroth ; 
he  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  power  and  glory ;  his  heart 
was  lifted  up.  Who  were  these  priests,  that  they  should 
stand  between  him  and  Jehovah  and  dare  to  publicly 
check  and  rebuke  him  in  his  own  temple  ?  |  Henry  II. 's 
feelings  towards  Becket  must  have  been  mild  compared 
to  those  of  Uzziah  towards  Azariah,  who,  if  the  king 
could  have  had  his  way,  would  doubtless  have  shared 
the  fate  of  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada.  But  a 
direct  intervention  of  Jehovah  protected  the  priests, 
and  preserved  Uzziah  from  further  sacrilege.  While  his 
features  were  convulsed  with  anger,  leprosy  brake  forth 
in  his  forehead.  The  contest  between  king  and  priest 
was  at  once  ended ;  the  priests  thrust  him  out,  and  he 
himself  hasted  to  go,  recognising  that  Jehovah  had 
smitten  him.  Henceforth  he  lived  apart,  cut  off  from 
fellowship  alike  with  man  and  God,  and  his  son  Jotham 
governed  in  his  stead.  The  book  of  Kings  simple- 
makes  the  general  statement  that  Uzziah  was  buried 
with    his    fathers    in    the    city    of    David ;    but    the 

'  Num.  xviii.  7  ;  Exod.  xxx.  7. 


xxvi.-xxviii.]      UZZIAH,  JOTHAM,   AND  AHAZ  423 


chronicler  is  anxious  that  his  readers  should  not 
suppose  that  the  tombs  of  the  sacred  house  of  David 
were  polluted  by  the  presence  of  a  leprous  corpse  :  he 
explains  that  the  leper  was  buried,  not  in  the  royal 
sepulchre,  but  in  the  field  attached  to  it. 

The  moral  of  this  incident  is  obvious.  In  attempting 
to  understand  its  significance,  we  need  not  trouble 
ourselves  about  the  relative  authority  of  kings  and 
priests ;  the  principle  vindicated  by  the  punishment  of 
Uzziah  was  the  simple  duty  of  obedience  to  an  express 
command  of  Jehovah.  However  trivial  the  burning 
of  incense  may  be  in  itself,  it  formed  part  of  an 
elaborate  and  complicated  system  of  ritual.  To  interfere 
with  the  Divine  ordinances  in  one  detail  would  mar 
the  significance  and  impressiveness  of  the  whole  Temple 
service.  One  arbitrary  innovation  would  be  a  precedent 
for  others,  and  would  constitute  a  serious  danger  for  a 
system  whose  value  lay  in  continuous  uniformity. 
Moreover,  Uzziah  was  stubborn  in  disobedience.  His 
attempt  to  burn  incense  might  have  been  sufficiently 
punished  by  the  public  and  humiliating  reproof  of  the 
high-priest.  His  leprosy  came  upon  him  because 
when  thwarted  in  an  unholy  purpose  he  gave  way  to 
ungoverned  passion. 

In  its  consequences  we  see  a  practical  application 
of  the  lessons  of  the  incident.  How  often  is  the 
sinner  only  provoked  to  greater  wickedness  by  the 
obstacles  which  Divine  grace  opposes  to  his  wrong- 
doing I  How  few  men  will  tolerate  the  suggestion  that 
their  intentions  are  cruel,  selfish,  or  dishonourable  1 
Remonstrance  is  an  insult,  an  offence  against  their 
personal  dignity;'  they  feel  that  their  self-respect 
demands  that  they  should  persevere  in  their  purpose, 
and  that  they  should  resent  and  punish  any  one  who 


424  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


has  tried  to  thwart  them.  Uzziah's  wrath  w'as  perfectly 
natural ;  few  men  have  been  so  uniformly  patient  of 
reproof  as  not  sometimes  to  have  turned  in  anger 
upon  those  who  warned  them  against  sin.  The  most 
dramatic  feature  of  this  episode,  the  sudden  frost 
of  leprosy  in  the  king's  forehead,  is  not  without 
its  spiritual  antitype.  Men's  anger  at  well-merited 
reproof  has  often  blighted  their  lives  once  for  all  with 
ineradicable  moral  leprosy.  In  the  madness  of  passion 
they  have  broken  bonds  which  have  hitherto  restrained 
them  and  committed  themselves  beyond  recall  to  evil 
pursuits  and  fatal  friendships.  Let  us  take  the  most 
lenient  view  of  Uzziah's  conduct,  and  suppose  that  he 
believed  himself  entitled  to  offer  incense ;  he  could  not 
doubt  that  the  priests  were  equally  confident  that 
Jehovah  had  enjoined  the  duty  on  them,  and  them 
alone.  Such  a  question  was  not  to  be  decided  by 
violence,  in  the  heat  of  personal  bitterness.  Azariah 
himself  had  been  unwisely  zealous  in  bringing  in  his 
eighty  priests  ;  Jehovah  showed  him  that  they  were 
quite  unnecessary,  because  at  the  last  Uzziah  "himself 
hasted  to  go  out."  When  personal  passion  and 
jealousy  are  eliminated  from  Christian  polemics,  the 
Church  will  be  able  to  write  the  epitaph  of  the  odium 
theologicum, 

Uzziah  was  succeeded  by  Jotham,  who  had  already 
governed  for  some  time  as  regent.  In  recording  the 
favourable  judgment  of  the  book  of  Kings,  "  He  did  that 
which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah,  according  to 
all  that  his  father  Uzziah  had  done,"  the  chronicler  is 
careful  to  add,  "  Howbeit  he  entered  not  into  the  temple 
of  Jehovah " ;  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  house  of 
Aaron  had  been  established  once  for  all.  The  story 
of  Jotham's  reign  comes  like  a  quiet  and  pleasant  oasis 


xxvi.-xxviii.]      UZZIAH,  JOTHAM,   AND  AHAZ  425 


in  the  chronicler's  dreary  narrative  of  wicked  rulers, 
interspersed  with  pious  kings  whose  piety  failed  them 
in  their  latter  days.  Jotham  shares  with  Solomon 
the  distinguished  honour  of  being  a  king  of  whom 
no  evil  is  recorded  either  in  Kings  or  Chronicles, 
and  who  died  in  prosperity,  at  peace  with  Jehovah. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  probable  that  Jotham  owes  the 
blameless  character  he  bears  in  Chronicles  to  the 
fact  that  the  earlier  narrative  does  not  mention  any 
misfortunes  of  his,  especially  any  misfortune  towards 
the  close  of  his  life.  Otherwise  the  theological  school 
from  whom  the  chronicler  derived  his  later  tradi- 
tions would  have  been  anxious  to  discover  or  deduce 
some  sin  to  account  for  such  misfortune.  At  the  end 
of  the  short  notice  of  his  reign,  between  two  parts  of 
the  usual  closing  formula,  an  editor  of  the  book  of 
Kings  has  inserted  the  statement  that  "  in  those  days 
Jehovah  began  to  send  against  Judah  Rezin  the  king 
of  Syria  and  Pekah  the  son  of  Remaliah."  This  verse 
the  chronicler  has  omitted ;  neither  the  date  ^  nor  the 
nature  of  this  trouble  was  clear  enough  to  cast  any 
slur  upon  the  character  of  Jotham. 

Jotham,  again,  had  the  rewards  of  a  pious  king : 
he  added  a  gate  to  the  Temple,  and  strengthened  the 
wall  of  Ophel,^  and  built  cities  and  castles  in  Judah  ; 
he  m^ade  successful  war  upon  Ammon,  and  received 
from  them  an  immense  tribute — a  hundred  talents  of 
silver,  ten  thousand  measures  of  wheat,  and  as  much 
barley — for  three  successive  years.      What  happened 

'  Kimchi  interprets  "those  days"  as  meaning  "after  the  death  of 
Jotham." 

^  The  reference  to  the  wall  of  Ophel  is  peculiar  to  Chronicles  : 
indeed,  Ophel  is  only  mentioned  in  Chronicles  and  Nehemiah  ;  it  was 
the  southern  spur  of  Mount  Moriah  (Neh.  iii.  26,  27).  Vv.  3  6-7 

are  also  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


426  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

afterwards  we  are  not  told.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  amounts  mentioned  were  paid  in  three  yearly 
instalments,  or  that  the  three  years  were  at  the  end 
of  the  reign,  and  the  tribute  came  to  an  end  when 
Jotham  died  or  when  the  troubles  with  Pekah  and 
Rezin  began. 

We  have  had  repeated  occasion  to  notice  that  in  his 
accounts  of  the  good  kings  the  chronicler  almost 
always  omits  the  qualifying  clause  to  the  effect  that 
they  did  not  take  away  the  high  places.  He  does  so 
here ;  but,  contrary  to  his  usual  practice,  he  inserts  a 
qualifying  clause  of  his  own  :  "  The  people  did  yet 
corruptly."  He  probably  had  in  view  the  unmitigated 
wickedness  of  the  following  reign,  and  was  glad  to 
retain  the  evidence  that  Ahaz  found  encouragement 
and  support  in  his  idolatry  ;  he  is  careful,  however,  to 
state  the  fact  so  that  no  shadow  of  blame  falls  upon 
Jotham. 

The  life  of  Ahaz  has  been  dealt  with  elsewhere. 
Here  we  need  merely  repeat  that  for  the  sixteen  years 
of  his  reign  Judah  was  to  all  appearance  utterly  given 
over  to  every  form  of  idolatry,  and  was  oppressed  and 
brought  low  by  Israel,  Syria,  and  Assyria. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

HEZEKIAH:    THE  RELIGIOUS    VALUE  OF  MUSIC 
2  Chron.  xxix.-xxxii. 

THE  bent  of  the  chronicler's  mind  is  well  illus- 
trated by  the  proportion  of  space  assigned  to 
ritual  by  him  and  by  the  book  of  Kings  respectively. 
In  the  latter  a  few  lines  only  are  devoted  to  ritual,  and 
the  bulk  of  the  space  is  given  to  the  invasion  of 
Sennacherib,  the  embassy  frora  Babylon,  etc.,  while 
in  Chronicles  ritual  occupies  about  three  times  as 
many  verses  as  personal  and  public  affairs. 

Hezekiah,  though  not  blameless,  was  all  but  perfect 
in  his  loyalty  to  Jehovah.  The  chronicler  reproduces 
the  customary  formula  for  a  good  king  :  "  He  did  that 
which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah,  according  to 
all  that  David  his  father  had  done  "  ;  bu*  his  cautious 
judgment  rejects  the  somewhat  rhetorical  statement 
in  Kings  that  "  after  him  was  none  like  him  among  all 
the  kings  of  Judah,  nor  any  that  were  before  him." 

Hezekiah's  policy  was  made  clear  immediately  after 
his  accession.  His  zeal  for  reformation  could  tolerate 
no  delay ;  the  first  month  ^  of  the  first  year  of  his  reign 

'  This  is  usually  understood  as  Nisan,  the  first  month  of  the  eccle- 
siastical year. 

4-27 


428  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

saw  him  actively  engaged  in  the  good  work.^  It  was 
no  hght  task  that  lay  before  him.  Not  only  were 
there  altars  in  every  corner  of  Jerusalem  and  idolatrous 
high  places  in  every  city  of  Judah,  but  the  Temple 
services  had  ceased,  the  lamps  were  put  out,  the  sacred 
vessels  cut  in  pieces,  the  Temple  had  been  polluted 
and  then  closed,  and  the  priests  and  Levites  were 
scattered.  Sixteen  years  of  licensed  idolatry  must 
have  fostered  all  that  was  vile  in  the  country,  have  put 
wicked  men  in  authority,  and  created  numerous  vested 
interests  connected  by  close  ties  with  idolatry,  notably 
the  priests  of  all  the  altars  and  high  places.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  reign  of  Ahaz  had  been  an  unbroken 
series  of  disasters ;  the  people  had  repeatedly  endured 
the  horrors  of  invasion.  His  government  as  time  went 
on  must  have  become  more  and  more  unpopular,  for 
when  he  died  he  was  not  buried  in  the  sepulchres  of 
the  kings.  As  idolatry  was  a  prominent  feature  of  his 
policy,  there  would  be  a  reaction  in  favour  of  the 
worship  of  Jehovah,  and  there  would  not  be  wanting 
true  believers  to  tell  the  people  that  their  sufferings 
were  a  consequence  of  idolatry.  To  a  large  party  in 
Judah  Hezekiah's  reversal  of  his  father's  religious 
policy  would  be  as  welcome  as  Elizabeth's  declaration 
against  Rome  was  to  most  Englishmen. 

Hezekiah  began  by  opening  and  repairing  the  doors 
of  the  Temple.  Its  closed  doors  had  been  a  symbol 
of  the  national  repudiation  of  Jehovah ;  to  reopen  them 


*  xxix.  3-xxxi.  21  (the  cleansing  of  the  Temple  and  accompanying 
feast,  Passover,  organisation  of  the  priests  and  Levites)  are  substan- 
tially peculiar  to  Chronicles,  though  in  a  sense  they  expand  2  Kings 
xviii.  4-7,  because  they  fulfil  the  commandments  which  Jehovah 
commanded  Moses. 


xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC  429 

was  necessarily  the  first  step  in  the  reconciliation  of 
Judah  to  its  God,  but  only  the  first  step.  The  doors 
were  open  as  a  sign  that  Jehovah  was  invited  to  return 
to  His  people  and  again  to  manifest  His  presence  in  the 
Holy  of  holies,  so  that  through  those  open  doors  Israel 
might  have  access  to  Him  by  means  of  the  priests. 
But  the  Temple  was  as  yet  no  fit  place  for  the  presence 
of  Jehovah.  With  its  lamps  extinguished,  its  sacred 
vessels  destroyed,  its  floors  and  walls  thick  with  dust 
and  full  of  all  filthiness,  it  was  rather  a  symbol  of  the 
apostacy  of  Judah.  Accordingly  Hezekiah  sought 
the  help  of  the  Levites.  It  is  true  that  he  is  first  said 
to  have  collected  together  priests  and  Levites,  but 
from  that  point  onward  the  priests  are  almost  entirely 
ignored. 

Hezekiah  reminded  the  Levites  of  the  misdoings  of 
Ahaz  and  his  adherents  and  the  wrath  which  they  had 
brought  upon  Judah  and  Jerusalem ;  he  told  them  it 
v/as  his  purpose  to  conciliate  Jehovah  by  making  a 
covenant  with  Him ;  he  appealed  to  them  as  the  chosen 
ministers  of  Jehovah  and  His  temple  to  co-operate 
heartily  in  this  good  work. 

The  Levites  responded  to  his  appeal  apparently 
rather  in  acts  than  words.  No  spokesman  replies  to 
the  king's  speech,  but  with  prompt  obedience  they  set 
about  their  work  forthwith ;  they  arose,  Kohathites, 
sons  of  Merari,  Gershonites,  sons  of  Elizaphan,  Asaph, 
Heman,  and  Jeduthun — the  chronicler  has  a  Homeric 
fondness  for  catalogues  of  high-sounding  names — the 
leaders  of  all  these  divisions  are  duly  mentioned. 
Kohath,  Gershon,  and  Merari  are  well  known  as  the 
three  great  clans  of  the  house  of  Levi ;  and  here  we  find 
the  three  guilds  of  singers — Asaph,  Heman,  and  Jedu- 
thun— placed  on  a  level  with  the  older  clans.     Elizaphan 


4GO  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

was  apparently  a  division  of  the  clan  Kohath/  which, 
like  the  guilds  of  singers,  had  obtained  an  independent 
status.  The  result  is  to  recognise  seven  divisions  of 
the  tribe. 

The  chiefs  of  the  Levites  gathered  their  brethren 
together,  and  having  performed  the  necessary  rites  of 
ceremonial  cleansing  for  themselves,  went  in  to  cleanse 
the  Temple  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  priests  went  into  the 
holy  place  and  the  Holy  of  holies  and  brought  out 
"all  the  uncleanness"  into  the  court,  and  the  Levites 
carried  it  away  to  the  brook  Kidron  :  but  before  the 
building  itself  could  be  reached  eight  days  were  spent 
in  cleansing  the  courts,  and  then  the  priests  went  into 
the  Temple  itself  and  spent  eight  days  in  cleansing  it, 
in  the  manner  described  above.  Then  they  reported 
to  the  king  that  the  cleansing  was  finished,  and  espe- 
cially that  "all  the  vessels  which  King  Ahaz  cast 
away  "  had  been  recovered  and  "reconsecrated  with  due 
ceremony.  We  were  told  in  the  previous  chapter  that 
Ahaz  had  cut  to  pieces  the  vessels  of  the  Temple,  but 
these  may  have  been  other  vessels. 

Then  Hezekiah  celebrated  a  great  dedication  feast ; 
seven  bullocks,  seven  rams,  seven  lambs,  and  seven  he- 
goats  were  offered  as  a  sin-offering  for  the  dynasty,^  for 
the  Temple,  for  Judah,  and  (by  special  command  of  the 
king)  for  all  Israel,  i.e.  for  the  northern  tribes  as  well 
as  for  Judah  and  Benjamin.  Apparently  this  sin- 
offering  was  made  in  silence,  but  afterwards  the  king 
set  the  Levites  and  priests  in  their  places  with  their 
musical  instruments,  and  when  the  burnt  offering  began 


'  Exod.  vi.  i8,  22;  Num.  iii.  30,  mention  Elizaphan  as  a  descendant 
of  Kohath. 

*  So  Strack-Zockler,  i.  I. 


xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC  431 


"  the  song  of  Jehovah  began  with  the  trumpets  together 
with  the  instruments  of  David  king  of  Israel.  And  all 
the  congregation  worshipped,  and  the  singers  sang,  and 
the  trumpeters  sounded,"  and  all  this  continued  till  the 
burnt  offering  was  finished. 

When  the  people  had  been  formally  reconciled  to 
Jehovah  by  this  representative  national  sacrifice,  and 
thus  purified  from  the  uncleanness  of  idolatry  and 
consecrated  afresh  to  their  God,  they  were  permitted 
and  invited  to  make  individual  sacrifices,  thank-offerings 
and  burnt  offerings.  Each  man  might  enjoy  for  him- 
self the  renewed  privilege  of  access  to  Jehovah,  and 
obtain  the  assurance  of  pardon  for  his  sins,  and  offer 
thanksgiving  for  his  own  special  blessings.  And  they 
brought  offerings  in  abundance :  seventy  bullocks,  a 
hundred  rams,  and  two  hundred  lambs  for  a  burnt 
offering ;  and  six  hundred  oxen  and  three  thousand 
sheep  for  thank-offerings.  Thus  were  the  Temple 
services  restored  and  reinaugurated ;  and  Hezekiah 
and  the  people  rejoiced  because  they  felt  that  this 
unpremeditated  outburst  of  enthusiasm  was  due  to 
the  gracious  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah. 

The  chronicler's  narrative  is  somewhat  marred  by  a 
touch  of  professional  jealousy.  According  to  the 
ordinary  ritual,^  the  offerer  flayed  the  burnt  offerings  ;  but 
for  some  special  reason,  perhaps  because  of  the  excep- 
tional solemnity  of  the  occasion,  this  duty  now  devolved 
upon  the  priests.  But  the  burnt  offerings  were  abun- 
dant beyond  all  precedent ;  the  priests  were  too  few  for 
the  work,  and  the  Levites  were  called  in  to  help  them, 
"  for  the  Levites  were  more  upright  in  heart  to  purify 
themselves  than  the  priests."     Apparently  even  in  the 

'  Lev.  i.  6. 


432  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

second  Temple  brethren  did  not  always  dwell  together 
in  unity. 

Hezekiah  had  now  provided  for  the  regular  services 
of  the  Temple,  and  had  given  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
a  full  opportunity  of  returning  to  Jehovah ;  but  the 
people  of  the  provinces  were  chiefly  acquainted  with 
the  Temple  through  the  great  annual  festivals.  These, 
too,  had  long  been  in  abeyance  ;  and  special  steps  had  to 
be  taken  to  secure  their  future  observance.  In  order 
to  do  this,  it  was  necessary  to  recall  the  provincials  to 
their  allegiance  to  Jehovah.  Under  ordinary  circum- 
stances the  great  festival  of  the  Passover  would  have 
been  observed  in  the  first  month,  but  at  the  time 
appointed  for  the  paschal  feast  the  Temple  was  still 
unclean,  and  the  priests  and  Levites  were  occupied  in  its 
purification.  But  Hezekiah  could  not  endure  that  the 
first  year  of  his  reign  should  be  marked  by  the  omission 
of  this  great  feast.  He  took  counsel  with  the  princes 
and  public  assembly — nothing  is  said  about  the  priests 
— and  they  decided  to  hold  the  Passover  in  the  second 
month  instead  of  the  first.  We  gather  from  casual 
allusions  in  vv.  6-8  that  the  kingdom  of  Samaria  had 
already  come  to  an  end  ;  the  people  had  been  carried  into 
captivity,  and  only  a  remnant  were  left  in  the  land.^ 
From  this  point  the  kings  of  Judah  act  as  religious  heads 
of  the  whole  nation  and  territory  of  Israel.  Hezekiah 
sent  invitations  to  all  Israel  from  Dan  to  Beersheba. 
He  made  special  efforts  to  secure  a  favourable  response 
from  the  northern  tribes,  sending  letters  to  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh,  i.e.,  to  the  ten  tribes  under  their  leader- 
ship.    He  reminded  them  that  their  brethren  had  gone 

1  According  to  2  Kings  xviii.  lo,  Samaria  was  not  taken  till  the 
sixth  year  of  Hezekiah's  reign.  It  is  not  necessary  for  an  expositor  of 
Chronicles  to  attempt  to  harmonise  the  two  accounts. 


,xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC  433 


into  captivity  because  the  northern  tribes  had  deserted 
the  Temple  ;  and  held  out  to  them  the  hope  that,  if  they 
worshipped  at  the  Temple  and  served  Jehovah,  they 
should  themselves  escape  further  calamity,  and  their 
brethren  and  children  who  had  gone  into  captivity 
should  return  to  their  own  land. 

"  So  the  posts  passed  from  city  to  city  through  the 
country  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  even  unto  Zebulun." 
Either  Zebulun  is  used  in  a  broad  sense  for  all  the 
Galilean  tribes,  or  the  phrase  "  from  Beersheba  to  Dan  " 
is  merely  rhetorical,  for  to  the  north,  between  Zebulun 
and  Dan,  lay  the  territories  of  Asher  and  Naphtali.  It 
is  to  be  noticed  that  the  tribes  beyond  Jordan  are 
nowhere  referred  to  ;  they  had  already  fallen  out  of  the 
history  of  Israel,  and  were  scarcely  remembered  in  the 
time  of  the  chronicler. 

Hezekiah's  appeal  to  the  surviving  communities  of 
the  northern  kingdom  failed  :  they  laughed  his 
messengers  to  scorn,  and  mocked  them  ;  but  individuals 
responded  to  his  invitation  in  such  numbers  that  they 
are  spoken  of  as  "  a  multitude  of  the  people,  even  many 
of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  Issachar  and  Zebulun." 
There  were  also  men  of  Asher  among  the  northern 
pilgrims.^ 

The  pious  enthusiasm  of  Judah  stood  out  in  vivid 
contrast  to  the  stubborn  impenitence  of  the  majority  of 
the  ten  tribes.  By  the  grace  of  God,  Judah  was  of  one 
heart  to  observe  the  feast  appointed  by  Jehovah  through 
the  king  and  princes,  so  that  there  was  gathered  in 
Jerusalem  a  very  great  assembly  of  worshippers, 
surpassing  even  the  great  gatherings  which  the  chroni- 
cler had  witnessed  at  the  annual  feasts. 

'  Cf.  XXX.  II,  18. 

28 


434  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

But  though  the  Temple  had  been  cleansed,  the  Holy 
City  was  not  yet  free  from  the  taint  of  idolatry.  The 
character  of  the  Passover  demanded  that  not  only  the 
Temple,  but  the  whole  city,  should  be  pure.  The  paschal 
lamb  was  eaten  at  home,  and  the  doorposts  of  the 
house  were  sprinkled  with  its  blood.  But  Ahaz  had 
set  up  altars  at  every  corner  of  the  city ;  no  devout 
Israelite  could  tolerate  the  symbols  of  idolatrous  worship 
close  to  the  house  in  which  he  celebrated  the  solemn 
rites  of  the  Passover.  Accordingly  before  the  Passover 
was  killed  these  altars  were  removed.^ 

Then  the  great  feast  began  ;  but  after  long  years  of 
idolatry  neither  the  people  nor  the  priests  and  Levites 
were  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  rites  of  the  festival  to 
be  able  to  perform  them  without  some  difficulty  and 
confusion.  As  a  rule  each  head  of  a  household  killed 
his  own  lamb;  but  many  of  the. worshippers,  especially 
those  from  the  north,  were  not  ceremonially  clean  :  and 
this  task  devolved  upon  the  Levites.  The  immense 
concourse  of  worshippers  and  the  additional  work 
thrown  upon  the  Temple  ministry  must  have  made 
extraordinary  demands  on  their  zeal  and  energy.^ 
At  first  apparently  they  hesitated,  and  were  inclined  to 
abstain  from  discharging  their  usual  duties.  A  passover 
in  a  month  not  appointed  by  Moses,  but  decided  on  by 
the  civil  authorities  without  consulting  the  priesthood, 
might  seem  a  doubtful  and  dangerous  innovation.  Re- 
collecting Azariah's  successful  assertion  of  hierarchical 

'  XXX.  14 ;  cf.  2  Kings  xviii.  4.  The  chronicler  omits  the  statement 
that  Hezekiah  destroyed  Moses's  brazen  serpent,  which  the  people  had 
hitherto  worshipped.  His  readers  would  not  have  understood  how 
this  corrupt  worship  survived  the  reforms  of  pious  kings  and  priests 
who  observed  the  law  of  Moses. 

^  Cf.  xxix.  34,  XXX.  3. 


xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC  435 

prerogative  against  Uzziah,  they  might  be  inchned  to 
attempt  a  similar  resistance  to  Hezekiah.  But  the  pious 
enthusiasm  of  the  people  clearly  showed  that  the  Spirit 
of  Jehovah  inspired  their  somewhat  irregular  zeal ;  so 
that  the  ecclesiastical  officials  were  shamed  out  of  their 
unsympathetic  attitude,  and  came  forward  to  take  their 
full  share  and  even  more  than  their  full  share  in  this 
glorious  rededication  of  Israel  to  Jehovah. 

But  a  further  difficulty  remained  :  uncleanness  not 
only  disqualified  from  killing  the  paschal  lambs,  but 
from  taking  any  part  in  the  Passover ;  and  a  multitude 
of  the  people  were  unclean.  Yet  it  would  have  been 
ungracious  and  even  dangerous  to  discourage  their  new- 
born zeal  by  excluding  them  from  the  festival ;  moreover, 
many  of  them  were  worshippers  from  among  the  ten 
tribes,  who  had  come  in  response  to  a  special  invitation, 
which  most  of  their  fellow-countrymen  had  rejected  with 
scorn  and  contempt.  If  they  had  been  sent  back  be- 
cause they  had  failed  to  cleanse  themselves  according  to 
a  ritual  of  which  they  were  ignorant,  and  of  which 
Hezekiah  might  have  known  they  would  be  ignorant, 
both  the  king  and  his  guests  would  have  incurred 
measureless  ridicule  from  the  impious  northerners. 
Accordingly  they  were  allowed  to  take  part  in  the 
Passover  despite  their  uncleanness.  But  this  per- 
mission could  only  be  granted  with  serious  apprehen- 
sions as  to  its  consequences.  The  Law  threatened  with 
death  any  one  who  attended  the  services  of  the 
sanctuary  in  a  state  of  uncleanness.^  Possibly  there 
were  already  signs  of  an  outbreak  of  pestilence ;  at 
any  rate,  the  dread  of  Divine  punishment  for  sacrilegious 
presumption  would   distress   the  whole  assembly  and 

'  Lev.  XV.  ^i. 


436  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

mar  their  enjoyment  of  Divine  fellowship.  Again  it  is 
no  priest  or  prophet,  but  the  king,  the  Messiah,  who 
comes  forward  as  the  mediator  between  God  and  man. 
Hezekiah  prayed  for  them,  saying,  "Jehovah,  in  His 
grace  and  mercy,^  pardon  every  one  that  setteth  his 
heart  to  seek  Elohim  Jehovah,  the  God  of  his  fathers, 
though  he  be  not  cleansed  according  to  the  ritual  of 
the  Temple.  And  Jehovah  hearkened  to  Hezekiah,  and 
healed  the  people,"  i.e.,  either  healed  them  from  actual 
disease  or  relieved  them  from  the  fear  of  pestilence. 

And  so  the  feast  went  on  happily  and  prosperously, 
and  was  prolonged  by  acclamation  for  an  additional 
seven  days.  During  fourteen  days  king  and  princes, 
priests  and  Levites,  Jews  and  Israelites,  rejoiced  before 
Jehovah ;  thousands  of  bullocks  and  sheep  smoked 
upon  the  altar ;  and  now  the  priests  were  not  backward  : 
great  numbers  purified  themselves  to  serve  the  popular 
devotion.  The  priests  and  Levites  sang  and  made 
melody  to  Jehovah,  so  that  the  Levites  earned  the 
king's  special  commendation.  The  great  festival  ended 
with  a  solemn  benediction  :  "  The  priests  "^  arose  and 
blessed  the  people,  and  their  voice  was  heard,  and  their 
prayer  came  to  His  holy  habitation,  even  unto  heaven." 
The  priests,  and  through  them  the  people,  received  the 
assurance  that  their  solemn  and  prolonged  worship  had 
met  with  gracious  acceptance. 

We   have   already  more  than  once  had  occasion   to 

'  So  Bertheau,  i.  i,  slightly  paraphrasing. 

^  A.R.V.,  with  Masoretic  text,  "the  priests  the  Levites";  LXX., 
Vulg.  Syr.,  "the  priests  and  the  Levites."  The  former  is  more  likely 
to  be  correct.  The  verse  is  partly  an  echo  of  Deut.  xxvi.  15,  so  that 
the  chronicler  naturally  uses  the  Deuteronomic  phrase  "  the  priests 
the  Levites  " ;  but  he  probably  does  so  unconsciously,  without  intend- 
ing to  make  any  special  claim  for  the  Levites :  hence  I  have  omitted 
the  word  in  the  text. 


xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC     ■  437 

consider  the  chronicler's  main  theme  :  the  importance  of 
the  Temple,  its  ritual,  and  its  ministers.  Incidentally 
and  perhaps  unconsciously,  he  here  suggests  another 
lesson,  which  is  specially  significant  as  coming  from  an 
ardent  ritualist,  namely  the  necessary  limitations  of 
uniformity  in  ritual.  Hezekiah's  celebration  of  the 
Passover  is  full  of  irregularities  :  it  is  held  in  the  wrong 
month ;  it  is  prolonged  to  twice  the  usual  period ;  there 
are  amongst  the  worshippers  multitudes  of  unclean 
persons,  whose  presence  at  these  services  ought  to  have 
been  visited  with  terrible  punishment.  All  is  condoned 
on  the  ground  of  emergency,  and  the  ritual  laws  are  set 
aside  without  consulting  the  ecclesiastical  officials. 
Everything  serves  to  emphasise  the  lesson  we  touched 
on  in  connection  with  David's  sacrifices  at  the  threshing- 
floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite  :  ritual  is  made  for  man, 
and  not  man  for  ritual.  Complete  uniformity  may  be 
insisted  on  in  ordinary  times,  but  can  be  dispensed  with 
in  any  pressing  emergency ;  necessity  knows  no  law, 
not  even  the  Torah  of  the  Pentateuch.  Moreover,  in 
such  emergencies  it  is  not  necessary  to  wait  for  the  initia- 
tive or  even  the  sanction  of  ecclesiastical  officials ;  the 
supreme  authority  in  the  Church  in  all  its  great  crises 
resides  in  the  whole  body  of  believers.  No  one  is  en- 
titled to  speak  with  greater  authority  on  the  limitations 
of  ritual  than  a  strong  advocate  of  the  sanctity  of  ritual 
like  the  chronicler  ;  and  we  may  well  note,  as  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  marks  of  his  inspiration,  the  sanctified 
common  sense  shown  by  his  frank  and  sympathetic 
record  of  the  irregularities  of  Hezekiah's  passover. 
Doubtless  emergencies  had  arisen  even  in  his  own 
experience  of  the  great  feasts  of  the  Temple  that  had 
taught  him  this  lesson  ;  and  it  says  much  for  the 
healthy  tone  of  the  Temple  community  in  his  day  that 


438  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

he  does  not  attempt  to  reconcile  the  practice  of  Hezekiah 
with  the  law  of  Moses  by  any  harmonistic  quibbles. 

The  work  of  purification  and  restoration,  however,  was 
still  incomplete  :  the  Temple  had  been  cleansed  from  the 
pollutions  of  idolatry,  the  heathen  altars  had  been 
removed  from  Jerusalem,  but  the  high  places  remained 
in  all  the  cities  of  Judah.  When  the  Passover  was  at 
last  finished,  the  assembled  multitude,  "  all  Israel  that 
were  present,"  set  out,  like  the  English  or  Scotch 
Puritans,  on  a  great  iconoclastic  expedition.  Through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Land  of  Promise, 
throughout  Judah  and  Benjamin,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh, 
they  brake  in  pieces  the  sacred  pillars,  and  hewed  down 
the  Asherim,  and  brake  down  the  high  places  and 
altars  ;  then  they  went  home. 

Meanwhile  Hezekiah  was  engaged  in  reorganising 
the  priests  and  Levites  and  arranging  for  the  payment 
and  distribution  of  the  sacred  dues.  The  king  set 
an  example  of  liberality  by  making  provision  for  the 
daily,  weekly,  monthly,  and  festival  offerings.  The 
people  were  not  slow  to  imitate  him  ;  they  brought  first- 
fruits  and  tithes  in  such  abundance  that  four  months 
were  spent  in  piling  up  heaps  of  offerings. 

"  Thus  did  Hezekiah  throughout  all  Judah ;  and  he 
wrought  that  which  was  good,  and  right,  and  faithful 
before  Jehovah  his  God ;  and  in  every  work  that  he 
began  in  the  service  of  the  Temple,  and  in  the  Law,  and 
in  the  commandments,  to  seek  his  God,  he  did  it  with 
all  his  heart,  and  brought  it  to  a  successful  issue." 

Then  follow  an  account  of  the  deliverance  from 
Sennacherib  and  of  Hezekiah's  recovery  from  sickness, 
a  reference  to  his  undue  pride  in  the  matter  of  the 
embassy  from  Babylon,  and  a  description  of  the 
prosperity  of  his  reign,  all  for  the  most  part  abridged 


xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC  439 


from  the  book  of  Kings.  The  prophet  Isaiah,  however, 
is  almost  ignored.  A  few  of  the  more  important 
modifications  deserve  some  little  attention.  We  are 
told  that  the  Assyrian  invasion  was  "  after  these  things 
and  this  faithfulness,"  in  order  that  we  may  not  forget 
that  the  Divine  deliverance  was  a  recompense  for 
Hezekiah's  loyalty  to  Jehovah.  While  the  book  of 
Kings  tells  us  that  Sennacherib  took  all  the  fenced 
cities  of  Judah,  the  chronicler  feels  that  even  this 
measure  of  misfortune  would  not  have  been  allowed  to 
befall  a  king  who  had  just  reconciled  Israel  to  Jehovah, 
and  merely  says  that  Sennacherib  purposed  to  break 
these  cities  up. 

The  chronicler  ^  has  preserved  an  account  of  the 
measures  taken  by  Hezekiah  for  the  defence  of  his 
capital  :  how  he  stopped  up  the  fountains  and  water- 
courses outside  the  city,  so  that  a  besieging  army  might 
not  find  water,  and  repaired  and  strengthened  the 
walls,  and  encouraged  his  people  to  trust  in  Jehovah. 

Probably  the  stopping  of  the  water  supply  outside 
the  walls  was  connected  with  an  operation  mentioned  at 
the  close  of  the  narrative  of  Hezekiah's  reign  :  "  Hezekiah 
also  stopped  the  upper  spring  of  the  waters  of  Gihon, 
and  brought  them  straight  down  on  the  west  side  of 
the  city  |of  David."  ^  Moreover,  the  chronicler's  state- 
ments are  based  upon  2  Kings  xx.  20,  where  it  is 
said  that  "  Hezekiah  made  the  pool  and  the  conduit 
and  brought  water  into  the  city."  The  chronicler  was 
of  course  intimately  acquainted  with  the  topography 
of  Jerusalem  in  his  own  days,  and  uses  his  knowledge 
to  interpret  and  expand  the  statement  in  the  book  of 
Kings.     He  was  possibly  guided  in  part  by  Isa.  xxii. 


xxxii.  2-8,  peculiar  to  Chronicles.  -  xxxii.   30. 


44°  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

9,  II,  where  the  **  gathering  together  the  waters  of  the 
lower  pool"  and  the  "making  a  reservoir  betvv'een  the 
two  walls  for  the  water  of  the  old  pool "  are  mentioned 
as  precautions  taken  in  view  of  a  probable  Assyrian 
siege.  The  recent  investigations  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund  have  led  to  the  discovery  of  aqueducts, 
and  stoppages,  and  diversions  of  watercourses  which 
are  said  to  correspond  to  the  operations  mentioned 
by  the  chronicler.  If  this  be  the  case,  they  show  a 
very  accurate  knowledge  on  his  part  of  the  topography 
of  Jerusalem  in  his  own  day,  and  also  illustrate  his 
care  to  utilise  all  existing  evidence  in  order  to  obtain 
a  clear  and  accurate  interpretation  of  the  statements 
of  his  authority. 

The  reign  of  Hezekiah  appears  a  suitable  oppor- 
tunity to  introduce  a  few  remarks  on  the  importance 
which  the  chronicler  attaches  to  the  music  of  the 
Temple  services.  Though  the  music  is  not  more  pro- 
minent v/ith  him  than  with  some  earlier  kings,  yet  in 
the  case  of  David,  Solomon,  and  Jehoshaphat  other 
subjects  presented  themselves  for  special  treatment ; 
and  Hezekiah's  reign  being  the  last  in  which  the  music 
of  the  sanctuary  is  specially  dwelt  upon,  we  are  able 
here  to  review  the  various  references  to  this  subject. 
For  the  most  part  the  chronicler  tells  his  story  of  the 
virtuous  days  of  the  good  kings  to  a  continual  accom- 
paniment of  Temple  music.  We  liear  of  the  playing 
and  singing  when  the  Ark  was  brought  to  the  house 
of  Obed-edom ;  when  it  was  taken  into  the  city  of 
David ;  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple ;  at  the  battle 
between  Abijah  and  Jeroboam ;  at  Asa's  reformation  ; 
in  connection  with  the  overthrow  of  the  Ammonites, 
Moabites,  and  Meunim  in  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat ;  at 
the   coronation   of  Joash ;    at   Hezekiah's    feasts ;    and 


xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC  441 

again,  though  less  emphatically,  at  Josiah's  passover. 
No  doubt  the  special  prominence  given  to  the  subject 
indicates  a  professional  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
author.  If,  however,  music  occupies  an  undue  propor- 
tion of  his  space,  and  he  has  abridged  accounts  of 
more  important  matters  to  make  room  for  his  favoufite 
theme,  yet  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  his 
actual  statements  overrate  the  extent  to  which  music 
was  used  in  worship  or  the  importance  attached  to  it. 
The  older  narratives  refer  to  the  music  in  the  case  of 
David  and  Joash,  and  assign  psalms  and  songs  to 
David  and  Solomon.  Moreover,  Judaism  is  by  no 
means  alone  in  its  fondness  for  music,  but  shares  this 
characteristic  with  almost  all  religions. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  chronicler  so  far  chiefly  as 
a  professional  musician,  but  it  should  be  clearly  under- 
stood that  the  term  must  be  taken  in  its  best  sense. 
He  was  by  no  means  so  absorbed  in  the  technique  of 
his  art  as  to  forget  its  sacred  significance ;  he  was  not 
less  a  worshipper  himself  because  he  was  the  minister 
or  agent  of  the  common  worship.  His  accounts  of 
the  festivals  show  a  hearty  appreciation  of  the  entire 
ritual ;  and  his  references  to  the  music  do  not  give  us 
the  technical  circumstances  of  its  production,  but  rather 
emphasise  its  general  effect.  The  chronicler's  sense  of 
the  religious  value  of  music  is  largely  that  of  a  devout 
worshipper,  who  is  led  to  set  forth  for  the  benefit  of 
others  a  truth  which  is  the  fruit  of  his  own  experience. 
This  experience  is  not  confined  to  trained  musicians; 
indeed,  a  scientific  knowledge  of  the  art  may  sometimes 
interfere  with  its  devotional  influence.  Criticism  may 
take  the  place  of  worship ;  and  the  hearer,  instead  of 
yielding  to  the  sacred  suggestions  of  hymn  or  anthem, 
may  be  distracted  by  his  aesthetic  judgment  as  to  the 


442  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

merits  of  the  composition  and  the  skill  shown  by  its 
rendering.  In  the  same  way  critical  appreciation  of 
voice,  elocution,  literary  style,  and  intellectual  power 
does  not  always  conduce  to  edification  from  a  sermon. 
In  the  truest  culture,  however,  sensitiveness  to  these 
secondary  quahties  has  become  habitual  and  automatic, 
and  blends  itself  imperceptibly  with  the  religious  con- 
sciousness of  spiritual  influence.  The  latter  is  thus 
helped  by  excellence  and  only  slightly  hindered  by 
minor  defects  in  the  natural  means.  But  the  very 
absence  of  any  great  scientific  knowledge  of  music 
may  leave  the  spirit  open  to  the  spell  which  sacred 
music  is  intended  to  exercise,  so  that  all  cheerful  and 
guileless  souls  may  be  "  moved  with  concord  of  sweet 
sounds,"  and  sad  and  weary  hearts  find  comfort  in 
subdued  strains  that  breathe  sympathy  of  which  words 
are  incapable. 

Music,  as  a  mode  of  utterance  moving  within  the 
restraints  of  a  regular  order,  naturally  attaches  itself 
to  ritual.  As  the  earliest  literature  is  poetry,  the 
earliest  liturgy  is  musical.  Melody  ie  the  simplest 
and  most  obvious  means  by  which  the  utterances  of 
a  body  of  worshippers  can  be  combined  into  a  seemly 
act  of  worship.  The  mere  repetition  of  the  same  words 
by  a  congregation  in  ordinary  speech  is  apt  to  be 
wanting  in  impressiveness  or  even  in  decorum ;  the 
use  of  tune  enables  a  congregation  to  unite  in  worship 
even  when  many  of  its  members  are  strangers  to  each 
other. 

Again,  music  may  be  regarded  as  an  expansion  of 
language  :  not  new  dialect,  but  a  collection  of  symbols 
that  can  express  thought,  and  more  especially  emotion, 
for  which  mere  speech  has  no  vocabulary.  This  new 
form    af  language   naturally   becomes  an    auxiliary   of 


xxix.-xxxii.]     THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  MUSIC  443 

religion.  Words  are  clumsy  instruments  for  the  ex- 
pression of  the  heart,  and  are  least  efficient  when  they 
undertake  to  set  forth  moral  and  spiritual  ideas.  Music 
can  transcend  mere  speech  in  touching  the  soul  to  fine 
issues,  suggesting  visions  of  things  ineffable  and 
unseen. 

Browning  makes  Abt  Vogler  say  of  the  most 
enduring  and  supreme  hopes  that  God  has  granted  to 
men,  "  'Tis  we  musicians  know  ";  but  the  message  of 
music  comes  home  with  power  to  many  who  have  no 
skill  in  its  art. 


CHAPTER    IX 

MANASSEH:  REPENTANCE  AND  FORGIVENESS 
2   Chron.  xxxiii. 

IN  telling  the  melancholy  story  of  the  wickedness  of 
Manasseh  in  the  first  period  of  his  reign,  the 
chronicler  reproduces  the  book  of  Kings,  with  one  or 
two  omissions  and  other  slight  alterations.  He  omits 
the  name  of  Manasseh's  mother ;  she  was  called 
Hephzi-bah — "  My  pleasure  is  in  her."  In  any  case, 
when  the  son  of  a  godly  father  turns  out  badly,  and 
nothing  is  known  about  the  mother,  uncharitable  people 
might  credit  her  with  his  wickedness.  But  the  chi-oni- 
cler's  readers  were  familiar  with  the  great  influence  of 
the  queen-mother  in  Oriental  states.  When  they  read 
that  the  son  of  Hezekiah  came  to  the  throne  at  the  age 
of  twelve  and  afterwards  gave  himself  up  to  every  form 
of  idolatr}',  they  would  naturally  ascribe  his  departure 
from  his  father's  ways  to  the  suggestions  of  his  mother. 
The  chronicler  is  not  willing  that  the  pious  Hezekiah 
should  lie  under  the  imputation  of  having  taken  delight 
in  an  ungodly  woman,  and  so  her  name  is  omitted. 

The  contents  of  2  Kings  xxi.  10-16  are  also  omitted; 
they  consist  of  a  prophetic  utterance  and  further 
particulars  as  to  the  sins  of  Manasseh  ;  they  are  virtually 
replaced  by  the  additional  information  in  Chronicles. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  chronicler,  the  history 
444 


xxxiii.]  REPENTANCE  AND  FORGIVENESS  445 

of  Manasseh  in  the  book  of  Kings  was  far  from 
satisfactory.  The  earher  writer  had  not  only  failed  to 
provide  materials  from  which  a  suitable  moral  could 
be  deduced,  but  he  had  also  told  the  story  so  that 
undesirable  conclusions  might  be  drawn.  Manasseh 
sinned  more  wickedly  than  any  other  king  of  Judah  : 
Ahaz  merely  polluted  and  closed  the  Temple,  but 
Manasseh  "built  altars  for  all  the  host  of  heaven  in 
the  two  courts  of  the  Temple,"  and  set  up  in  it  an 
idol.  And  yet  in  the  earlier  narrative  this  most  wicked 
king  escaped  without  any  personal  punishment  at  all. 
Moreover,  length  of  days  was  one  of  the  rewards  which 
Jehovah  was  wont  to  bestow  upon  the  righteous  ;  but 
while  Ahaz  was  cut  off  at  thirty-six,  in  the  prime  of 
manhood,  Manasseh  survived  to  the  mature  age  of 
sixty-seven,  and  reigned  fifty-five  years. 

However,  the  history  reached  the  chronicler  in  a 
more  satisfactory  form.  Manasseh  was  duly  punished, 
and  his  long  reign  fully  accounted  for.^  When,  in  spite 
of  Divine  warning,  Manasseh  and  his  people  persisted 
in  their  sin,  Jehovah  sent  against  them  "  the  captains 
of  the  host  of  the  king  of  Assyria,  which  took  Manasseh 
in  chains,  and  bound  him  with  fetters,"  and  carried  him 
to  Babylon." 

The  Assyrian  invasion  referred  to  here  is  partially 
confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  name  of  Manasseh  occurs 
amongst  the  tributaries  of  Esarhaddon  and  his 
successor,  Assur-bani-pal.  The  mention  of  Babylon  as 
his  place  of  captivity  rather  than  Nineveh  may  be 
accounted  for  by  supposing  that  Manasseh  was  taken 

'  xxxiii.  1 1-19,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 

'^  So  R.V. :  A. v.,  "among  the  thorns  ";  R.V.  marg.,  "with  hooks,"  if 
so  in  a  figurative  sense.  Others  take  the  word  as  a  proper  name  : 
Hdhim. 


446  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 


prisoner  in  the  reign  of  Esarhaddon.  This  king  of 
Assyria  rebuilt  Babylon,  and  spent  much  of  his  time 
there.  He  is  said  to  have  been  of  a  kindly  disposition, 
and  to  have  exercised  towards  other  royal  captives  the 
same  clemency  which  he  extended  to  Manasseh.  For 
the  Jewish  king's  misfortunes  led  him  to  repentance  : 
"  When  he  was  in  trouble,  he  besought  Jehovah  his  God, 
and  humbled  himself  greatly  before  the  God  of  his 
fathers,  and  prayed  unto  him."  Amongst  the  Greek 
Apocrypha  is  found  a  "  Prayer  of  Manasses,"  doubtless 
intended  by  its  author  to  represent  the  prayer  referred 
to  in  Chronicles.  In  it  Manasseh  celebrates  the  Divine 
glory,  confesses  his  great  wickedness,  and  asks  that  his 
penitence  may  be  accepted  and  that  he  may  obtain 
deliverance. 

If  these  were  the  terms  of  Manasseh's  prayers, 
they  were  heard  and  answered ;  and  the  captive 
king  returned  to  Jerusalem  a  devout  worshipper  and 
faithful  servant  of  Jehovah.  He  at  once  set  to  work 
to  undo  the  evil  he  had  wrought  in  the  former  period 
of  his  reign.  He  took  away  the  idol  and  the  heathen 
altars  from  the  Temple,  restored  the  altar  of  Jehovah, 
and  re-established  the  Temple  services.  In  earlier 
days  he  had  led  the  people  into  idolatry;  now  he 
commanded  them  to  serve  Jehovah,  and  the  people 
obediently  followed  the  king's  example.  Apparently 
he  found  it  impracticable  to  interfere  with  the  high 
places ;  but  they  were  so  far  purified  from  corruption 
that,  though  the  people  still  sacrificed  at  these  illegal 
sanctuaries,  they  worshipped  exclusively  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  Israel. 

Like  most  of  the  pious  kings,  his  prosperity  was 
partly  shown  by  his  extensive  building  operations. 
Following  in  the  footsteps  of  Jotham,  he  strengthened 


xxxiil.]  REPENTANCE  AND  FORGIVENESS  447 

or  repaired  the  fortifications  of  Jerusalem,  especially 
about  Ophel.  He  further  provided  for  the  safety 
of  his  dominions  by  placing  captains,  and  doubtless 
also  garrisons,  in  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah.  The 
interest  taken  by  the  Jews  of  the  second  Temple  in  the 
history  of  Manasseh  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
chronicler  is  able  to  mention,  not  only  the  "  Acts  of  the 
Kings  of  Israel,"  but  a  second  authority  :  "The  History 
of  the  Seers."  The  imagination  of  the  Targumists  and 
other  later  writers  embellished  the  history  of  Manasseh's 
captivity  and  release  with  many  striking  and  romantic 
circumstances. 

The  life  of  Manasseh  practically  completes  the 
chronicler's  series  of  object-lessons  in  the  doctrine  of 
retribution ;  the  history  of  the  later  kings  only  provides 
illustrations  similar  to  those  already  given.  These 
object-lessons  are  closely  connected  with  the  teaching 
of  Ezekiel.  In  deahng  with  the  question  of  heredity  in 
guilt,  the  prophet  is  led  to  set  forth  the  character  and 
fortunes  of  four  different  classes  of  men.  First  ^  we 
have  two  simple  cases :  the  righteousness  of  the 
righteous  shall  be  upon  him,  and  the  wickedness  of 
the  wicked  shall  be  upon  him.  These  have  been 
respectively  illustrated  by  the  prosperity  of  Solomon 
asnd  Jotham  and  the  misfortunes  of  Jehoram,  Ahaziah, 
Athaliah,  and  Ahaz.  Again,  departing  somewhat  from 
the  order  of  Ezekiel — **  When  the  righteous  turneth 
away  from  his  righteousness,  and  committeth  iniquity, 
and  doeth  according  to  all  the  abominations  of  the 
wicked  man,  shall  he  live  ?  None  of  his  righteous  deeds 
that  he  hath  done  shall  be  remembered ;  in  his  trespass 
that  he  hath  trespassed  and  in   his  sin  that   he  hath 

'  Ezek.  xviii.  20. 


448  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

sinned  he  shall  die  " — here  we  have  the  principle  that 
in  Chronicles  governs  the  Divine  dealings  w^ith  the 
kings  who  began  to  reign  well  and  then  fell  away  into 
sin  :  Asa,  Joash,  Amaziah,  and  Uzziah. 

We  reached  this  point  in  our  discussion  of  the 
doctrine  of  retribution  in  connection  with  Asa.  So  far 
the  lessons  taught  were  salutary  :  they  might  deter  from 
sin ;  but  they  were  gloomy  and  depressing :  they  gave 
little  encouragement  to  hope  for  success  in  the  struggle 
after  righteousness,  and  suggested  that  few  would 
escape  terrible  penalties  of  failure.  David  and  Solomon 
formed  a  class  by  themselves ;  an  ordinary  man  could 
not  aspire  to  their  almost  supernatural  virtue.  In  his 
later  history  the  chronicler  is  chiefly  bent  on  illus- 
trating the  frailty  of  man  and  the  wrath  of  God.  The 
New  Testament  teaches  a  similar  lesson  when  it  asks, 
"If  the  righteous  is  scarcely  saved,  where  shall  the 
ungodly  and  sinner  appear  ?  "  ^  But  in  Chronicles  not 
even  the  righteous  is  saved.  Again  and  again  we  are 
told  at  a  king's  accession  that  he  "  did  that  which  was 
good  and  right  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah  " ;  and  yet  before 
the  reign  closes  he  forfeits  the  Divine  favour,  and  at 
last  dies  ruined  and  disgraced. 

But  this  sombre  picture  is  relieved  by  occasional 
gleams  of  light.  Ezekiel  furnishes  a  fourth  type  of 
religious  experience  :  **  If  the  wicked  turn  from  all  his 
sins  that  he  hath  committed,  and  keep  all  My  statutes, 
and  do  that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  live ;  he 
shall  not  die.  None  of  his  transgressions  that  he  hath 
committed  shall  be  remembered  against  him  ;  in  his 
righteousness  that  he  hath  done  he  shall  live.  Have 
I  any  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  saith   the 

I  Peter  iv.  i8. 


xxxiii.]  REPENTANCE  AND  FORGIVENESS  449 

Lord  Jehovah,  and  not  rather  that  he  should  return 
from  his  way  and  Hve  ? "  ^  The  one  striking  and 
complete  example  of  this  principle  is  the  history  of 
Manasseh.  It  is  true  that  Rehoboam  also  repented, 
but  the  chronicler  does  not  make  it  clear  that  his 
repentance  was  permanent.  Manasseh  is  unique  alike 
in  extreme  wickedness,  sincere  penitence,  and  thorough 
reformation.  The  reformation  of  Julius  Caesar  or  of  our 
Henry  V.,  or,  to  take  a  different  class  of  instance,  the 
conversion  of  St.  Paul,  was  nothing  compared  to  the 
conversion  of  Manasseh.  It  was  as  though  Herod 
the  Great  or  Caesar  Borgia  had  been  checked  midway 
in  a  career  of  cruelty  and  vice,  and  had  thenceforward 
lived  pure  and  holy  lives,  glorifying  God  by  ministering 
to  their  fellow-men.  Such  a  repentance  gives  us  hope 
for  the  most  abandoned.  In  the  forgiveness  of 
Manasseh  the  penitent  sinner  receives  assurance  that 
God  will  forgive  even  the  most  guilty.  The  account  of 
his  closing  years  shows  that  even  a  career  of  desperate 
wickedness  in  the  past  need  not  hinder  the  penitent 
from  rendering  acceptable  service  to  God  and  ending 
his  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  Divine  favour  and  blessing. 
Manasseh  becomes  in  the  Old  Testament  what  the 
Prodigal  Son  is  in  the  New  :  the  one  great  symbol  ot 
the  possibilities  of  human  nature  and  the  infinite  mercy 
of  God. 

The  chronicler's  theology  is  as  simple  and  straight- 
forward as  that  of  Ezekiel.  Manasseh  repents,  submits 
himself,  and  is  forgiven.  His  captivity  apparently  had 
expiated  his  guilt,  as  far  as  expiation  was  necessary. 
Neither  prophet  nor  chronicler  was  conscious  of  the 
moral  difficulties  that  have  been  found  in  so  simple  a 

'  Ezek.  xviii.  21-23. 

29 


4SO  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

plan  of  salvation.  The  problems  of  an  objective  atone- 
ment had  not  yet  risen  above  their  horizon. 

These  incidents  afford  another  illustration  of  the 
necessary  limitations  of  ritual.  In  the  great  crisis  of 
Manasseh's  spiritual  life,  the  Levitical  ordinances  played 
no  part ;  they  moved  on  a  lower  level,  and  ministered  to 
less  urgent  needs.  Probably  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
was  still  suspended  during  Manasseh's  captivity ;  none 
the  less  Manasseh  was  able  to  make  his  peace  with  God. 
Even  if  they  were  punctually  observed,  of  what  use  were 
services  at  the  Temple  in  Jerusalem  to  a  penitent 
sinner  at  Babylon  ?  When  Manasseh  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem, he  restored  the  Temple  worship,  and  offered 
sacrifices  of  peace-offerings  and  of  thanksgiving ; 
nothing  is  said  about  sin-offerings.  His  sacrifices  were 
not  the  condition  of  his  pardon,  but  the  seal  and  token 
of  a  reconciliation  already  effected.  The  experience  ot 
Manasseh  anticipated  that  of  the  Jews  of  the  Captivity  : 
he  discovered  the  possibility  of  fellowship  with  Jehovah, 
far  away  from  the  Holy  Land,  without  temple,  priest, 
or  sacrifice.  The  chronicler,  perhaps  unconsciously, 
already  foreshadows  the  coming  of  the  hour  when  men 
should  worship  the  Father  neither  in  the  holy  moun- 
tain of  Samaria  nor  yet  in  Jerusalem. 

Before  relating  the  outward  acts  which  testified  the 
sincerity  of  Manasseh's  repentance,  the  chronicler  de- 
votes a  single  sentence  to  the  happy  influence  of  for- 
giveness and  deliverance  upon  Manasseh  himself 
When  his  prayer  had  been  heard,  and  his  exile  was  at 
an  end,  iJicn  Manasseh  knew  and  acknowledged  that 
Jehovah  was  God.  Men  first  begin  to  know  God 
when  they  have  been  forgiven.  The  alienated  and 
disobedient,  if  they  think  of  Him  at  all,  merely  have 
glimpses  of  His  vengeance  and  tr}^  to  persuade  them- 


xxxiii.]  REPENTANCE  AND  FORGIVENESS  451 

selves  that  He  is  a  stern  Tyrant.  By  the  penitent 
not  yet  assured  of  the  possibiHty  of  reconciliation  God 
is  chiefly  thought  of  as  a  righteous  Judge.  What 
did  the  Prodigal  Son  know  about  his  father  when 
he  asked  for  the  portion  of  goods  that  fell  to  him  or 
while  he  was  wasting  his  substance  in  riotous  living  ? 
Even  when  he  came  to  himself,  he  thought  of  the 
father's  house  as  a  place  where  there  was  bread 
enough  and  to  spare ;  and  he  supposed  that  his  father 
might  endure  to  see  him  living  at  home  in  permanent 
disgrace,  on  the  footing  of  a  hired  servant.  When  he 
reached  home,  after  he  had  been  met  a  great  way  off 
with  compassion  and  been  welcomed  with  an  embrace, 
he  began  for  the  first  time  to  understand  his  father's 
character.  So  the  knowledge  of  God's  love  dawns 
upon  the  soul  in  the  blessed  experience  of  forgiveness ; 
and  because  love  and  forgiveness  are  more  strange 
and  unearthly  than  rebuke  and  chastisement,  the  sinner 
is  humbled  by  pardon  far  more  than  by  punishment ; 
and  his  trembling  submission  to  the  righteous  Judge 
deepens  into  profounder  reverence  and  awe  for  the 
God  who  can  forgive,  who  is  superior  to  all  vindic- 
tiyeness,  whose  infinite  resources  enable  Him  to  blot 
out  the  guilt,  to  cancel  the  penalty,  and  annul  the 
consequences  of  sin. 

"There  is  forgiveness  with  Thee, 
That  Thou  mayest  be  feared."' 

The  words  that  stand  in  the  forefront  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  "  Hallowed  be  Thy  name,"  are  virtually  a 
petition  that  sinners  may  repent,  and  be  converted,  and 
obtain  forgiveness. 


'  Psalm  cxxx.  4,  probably  belonging  to  about  'the  same  period  as 
Chronicles. 


452  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 

In  seeking  for  a  Christian  parallel  to  the  doctrine 
expounded  by  Ezekiel  and  illustrated    by    Chronicles, 
we  have  to  remember  that  the  permanent  elements  in 
primitive  doctrine  are  often  to  be   found  by  removing 
the  limitations  which  imperfect  faith  has  imposed  on 
the  possibilities  of  human  nature  and  Divine  mercy. 
We  have  already  suggested  that  the  chronicler's  some- 
what rigid  doctrine  of  temporal  rewards  and  punish- 
ments symbolises   the  inevitable  influence  of  conduct 
on    the    development    of   character.     The    doctrine    of 
God's    attitude    towards    backsliding    and    repentance 
seems  somewhat  arbitrary  as  set  forth  by  Ezekiel  and 
Chronicles.     A  man  apparently  is  not  to  be  judged  by 
his  whole  life,  but  only  by  the  moral  period  that  is 
closed  by  his  death.     If  his  last  years  be  pious,  his 
former  transgressions  are  forgotten ;  if  his  last  years 
be    evil,    his   righteous   deeds   are    equally    forgotten. 
While  we  gratefully  accept  the  forgiveness  of  sinners, 
such  teaching  as  to  backsliders  seems  a  little  cynical ; 
and    though,   by  God's    grace    and   discipline,   a   man 
may  be   led   through  and    out  of  sin   into  righteous- 
ness, we  are  naturally  suspicious  of  a  life  of  "  righteous 
deeds"  which  towards  its  close  lapses  into  gross  and 
open  sin.     "Nemo  repente  turpissimus  fit."     We  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  the  final  lapse  reveals  the  true 
bias  of  the  whole  character.    But  the  chronicler  suggests 
more  than  this  :  by  his  history  of  the  almost  uniform 
failure  of  the  pious  kings  to  persevere  to  the  end,  he 
seems  to  teach  that  the  piety  of  early  and  mature  life  is 
either  unreal  or  else  is  unable  to  survive  as  body  and 
mind  wear  out.     This  doctrine  has  sometimes,  incon- 
siderately no  doubt,  been  taught  from  Christian  pulpits ; 
and  yet  the  truth  of  which  the  doctrine  is  a  misrepre- 
sentation supplies  a  correction  of  the  former  principle 


xxxiii.]  REPENTANCE  AND  FORGIVENESS  453 

that  a  life  is  to  be  judged  by  its  close.  Putting  aside 
any  question  of  positive  sin,  a  man's  closing  years 
sometimes  seem  cold,  narrow,  and  selfish  when  once 
he  was  full  of  tender  and  considerate  sympathy  ;  and 
yet  the  man  is  no  Asa  or  Amaziah  who  has  deserted 
the  living  God  for  idols  of  wood  and  stone.  The  man 
has  not  changed,  only  our  impression  of  him.  Uncon- 
sciously we  are  influenced  by  the  contrast  between  his 
present  state  and  the  splendid  energy  and  devotion  or 
self-sacrifice  that  marked  his  prime ;  we  forget  that 
inaction  is  his  misfortune,  and  not  his  fault ;  we 
overrate  his  ardour  in  the  days  when  vigorous  action 
was  a  delight  for  its  own  sake ;  and  we  overlook  the 
.  quiet  heroism  with  which  remnants  of  strength  are  still 
utilised  in  the  Lord's  service,  and  do  not  consider  that 
moments  of  fretfulness  are  due  to  decay  and  disease 
that  at  once  increase  the  need  of  patience  and  diminish 
the  powers  of  endurance.  Muscles  and  nerves  slowly 
become  less  and  less  efficient ;  they  fail  to  carry  to  the 
soul  full  and  clear  reports  of  the  outside  world  ;  they  are 
no  longer  satisfactory  instruments  by  which  the  soul  can 
express  its  feelings  or  execute  its  will.  We  are  less 
able  than  ever  to  estimate  the  inner  life  of  such  by  that 
which  we  see  and  hear.  While  we  are  thankful  for  the 
sweet  serenity  and  loving  sympathy  which  often  make 
the  hoary  head  a  crown  of  glory,  we  are  also  entitled 
to  judge  some  of  God's  more  militant  children  by  their 
years  of  arduous  service,  and  not  by  their  impatience  of 
enforced  inactivity. 

If  our  author's  statement  of  these  truths  seem  unsatis- 
factory, we  must  remember  that  his  lack  of  a  doctrine 
of  the  future  life  placed  him  at  a  serious  disadvantage. 
He  wished  to  exhibit  a  complete  picture  of  God's 
dealings   with  the   characters  of  his  history,   so   that 


454  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

their  lives  should  furnish  exact  illustrations  of  the 
working  of  sin  and  righteousness.  He  was  controlled 
and  hampered  by  the  idea  that  underlies  many  discus- 
sions in  the  Old  Testament :  that  God's  righteous 
iudgment  upon  a  man's  actions  is  completely  manifested 
during  his  earthly  life.  It  may  be  possible  to  assert  an 
eternal  providence  ;  but  conscience  and  heart  have  long 
since  revolted  against  the  doctrine  that  God's  justice,  to 
say  nothing  of  His  love,  is  declared  by  the  misery  of 
lives  that  might  have  been  innocent,  if  they  had  ever 
had  the  opportunity  of  knowing  what  innocence  meant. 
The  chronicler  worked  on  too  small  a  scale  for  his 
subject.  The  entire  Divine  economy  of  Him  with 
whom  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day  cannot  be  even 
outlined  for  a  single  soul  in  the  history  of  its  earthly 
existence.  These  narratives  of  Jewish  kings  are  only 
imperfect  symbols  of  the  infinite  possibihties  of  the 
eternal  providence.  The  moral  of  Chronicles  is  very 
much  that  of  the  Greek  sage,  "  Call  no  man  happy  till 
he  is  dead "  ;  but  since  Christ  has  brought  life  and 
immortality  to  light  through  the  Gospel,  we  no  longer 
pass  final  judgment  upon  either  the  man  or  his  happiness 
by  what  we  know  of  his  life  here.  The  decisive 
revelation  of  character,  the  final  judgment  upon  conduct, 
the  due  adjustment  of  the  gifts  and  discipline  of  God, 
are  deferred  to  a  future  life.  When  these  are  com- 
pleted, and  the  soul  has  attained  to  good  or  evil  beyond 
all  reversal,  then  we  shall  feel,  with  Ezekiel  and  the 
chronicler,  that  there  is  no  further  need  to  remember 
either  the  righteous  deeds  or  the  transgressions  of 
earlier  stages  of  its  history. 


CHAPTER  .  X 

THE  LAST  KINGS   OF  JUDAH 
2  Chron.  xxxiv.-xxxvi. 

WHATEVER  influence  Manasseh's  reformation 
exercised  over  his  people  generally,  the  taint 
of  idolatry  was  not  removed  from  his  own  family. 
His  son  Amon  succeeded  him  at  the  age  of  two- 
and-twenty.  Into  his  reign  of  two  years  he  com- 
pressed all  the  varieties  of  wickedness  once  practised 
by  his  father,  and  undid  the  good  work  of  Manasseh's 
later  years.  He  recovered  the  graven  images  which 
Manasseh  had  discarded,  replaced  them  in  their  shrines, 
and  worshipped  them  instead  of  Jehovah.  But  in  his  case 
there  was  no  repentance,  and  he  was  cut  off  in  his  youth. 
In  the  absence  of  any  conclusive  evidence  as  to  the 
date  of  Manasseh's  reformation,  we  cannot  determine 
with  certainty  whether  Amon  received  his  early  training 
before  or  after  his  father  returned  to  the  worship  of 
Jehovah.  In  either  case  Manasseh's  earlier  history 
would  make  it  difficult  for  him  to  counteract  any  evil 
influence  that  drew  Amon  towards  idolatry.  Amon 
could  set  the  example  and  perhaps  the  teaching  of  his 
father's  former  days  against  any  later  exhortations  to 
righteousness.  When  a  father  has  helped  to  lead  his 
children  astray,  he  cannot  be  sure  that  he  will  carry 
them  with  him  in  his  repentance. 

455 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES 


After  Anion's  assassination  the  people  placed  his  son 
Josiah  on  the  throne.  Like  Joash  and  Manasseh,  Josiah 
was  a  child,  only  eight  years  old.  The  chronicler 
follows  the  general  line  of  the  history  in  the  book  of 
Kings,  modifying,  abridging,  and  expanding,  but  intro- 
ducing no  new  incidents  ;  the  reformation,  the  repairing 
of  the  Temple,  the  discovery  of  the  book  of  the  Law, 
the  Passover,  Josiah's  defeat  and  death  at  Megiddo,  are 
narrated  by  both  historians.  We  have  only  to  notice 
differences  in  a  somewhat  similar  treatment  of  the  same 
subject. 

Beyond  the  general  statement  that  Josiah  "  did  that 
which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah"  we  hear 
nothing  about  him  in  the  book  of  Kings  till  the 
eighteenth  year  of  his  reign,  and  his  reformation  and 
putting  away  of  idolatry  is  placed  in  that  year.  The 
chronicler's  authorities  corrected  the  statement  that 
the  pious  king  tolerated  idolatry  for  eighteen  years. 
They  record  how  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign,  when 
he  was  sixteen,  he  began  to  seek  after  the  God  of 
David ;  and  in  his  twelfth  year  he  set  about  the  work  of 
utterly  destroying  idols  throughout  the  whole  territory 
of  Israel,  in  the  cities  and  ruins  of  Manasseh,  Ephraim, 
and  Simeon,  even  unto  Naphtali,  as  well  as  in  Judah 
and  Benjamin.  Seeing  that  the  cities  assigned  to 
Simeon  were  in  the  south  of  Judah,  it  is  a  little 
difficult  to  understand  why  they  appear  with  the 
northern  tribes,  unless  they  are  reckoned  with  them 
technically  to  make  up  the  ancient  number. 

The  consequence  of  this  change  of  date  is  that  in 
Chronicles  the  reformation  precedes  the  discovery  ol 
the  book  of  the  Law,  whereas  in  the  older  history  this 
discovery  is  the  cause  of  the  reformation.  The 
chronicler's  account  of  the  idols  and  other  apparatus  ol 


xxxiv.-xxxvi.]     THE  LAST  KINGS   OF  JUDAH  457 


false  worship  destroyed  by  Josiah  is  much  less  detailed 
than  that  of  the  book  of  Kings.  To  have  reproduced 
the  earlier  narrative  in  full  would  hava  raised  serious 
difficulties.  According  to  the  chronicler,  Manasseh  had 
purged  Jerusalem  of  idols  and  idol  altars  ;  and  Amon 
alone  was  responsible  for  any  that  existed  there  at  the 
accession  of  Josiah :  but  in  the  book  of  Kings  Josiah 
found  in  Jerusalem  the  altars  erected  by  the  kings 
of  Judah  and  the  horses  they  had  given  to  the  sun. 
Manasseh's  altars  still  stood  in  the  courts  of  the 
Temple ;  and  over  against  Jerusalem  there  still  re- 
mained the  "high  places  that  Solomon  had  built  for 
Ashtoreth,  Chemosh,  and  Milcom.  As  the  chronicler  in 
describing  Solomon's  reign  carefully  omitted  all  mention 
of  his  sins,  so  he  omits  this  reference  to  his  idolatry. 
Moreover,  if  he  had  inserted  it,  he  would  have  had  to 
explain  how  these  high  places  escaped  the  zeal  of  the 
many  pious  kings  who  did  away  with  the  high  places. 
Similarly,  having  omitted  the  account  of  the  man  of 
God  who  prophesied  the  ruin  of  Jeroboam's  sanctuary  at 
Bethel,  he  here  omits  the  fulfilment  of  that  prophecy. 

The  account  of  the  repairing  of  the  Temple  is 
enlarged  by  the  insertion  of  various  details  as  to  the 
names,  functions,  and  zeal  of  the  Levites,  amongst 
whom  those  who  had  skill  in  instruments  of  music 
seem  to  have  had  tlie  oversight  of  the  workmen.  We 
are  reminded  of  the  walls  of  Thebes,  which  rose  out 
of  the  ground  while  Orpheus  played  upon  his  flute. 
Similarly  in  the  account  of  the  assembly  called  to  hear 
the  contents  of  the  book  of  the  Law  the  Levites  are 
substituted  for  the  prophets.  This  book  of  the  Law  is 
said  in  Chronicles  to  have  been  given  by  Moses,  but 
his  name  is  not  connected  with  the  book  in  the  parallel 
narrative  in  the  book  of  Kings. 


458  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

The  earlier  authority  simply  states  that  Josiah  held  a 
great  passover ;  Chronicles,  as  usual,  describes  the 
festival  in  detail.  First  of  all,  the  king  commanded  the 
priests  and  Levites  to  purify  themselves  and  take  their 
places  in  due  order,  so  that  they  might  be  ready  to  per- 
form their  sacred  duties.  The  narrative  is  very  obscure, 
but  it  seems  that  either  during  the  apostacy  of  Amon  or 
on  account  of  the  recent  Temple  repairs  the  Ark  had  been 
removed  from  the  Holy  of  holies.  The  Law  had  specially 
assigned  to  the  Levites  the  duty  of  carrying  the  Taber- 
nacle and  its  furniture,  and  they  seem  to  have  thought 
that  they  vjere  only  bound  to  exercise  the  function  of 
carrying  the  Ark  ;  they  perhaps  proposed  to  bear  it  in 
solemn  procession  round  the  city  as  part  of  the  celebration 
of  the  Passover,  forgetting  the  words  of  David  ^  that  the 
Levites  should  no  more  carry  the  Tabernacle  and  its 
vessels.  They  would  have  been  glad  to  substitute  this 
conspicuous  and  honourable  service  for  the  laborious 
and  menial  work  of  flaying  the  victims.  Josiah,  how- 
ever, commanded  them  to  put  the  Ark  into  the  Temple 
and  attend  to  their  other  duties. 

Next,  the  king  and  his  nobles  provided  beasts  of 
various  kinds  for  the  sacrifices  and  the  Passover  meal. 
Josiah's  gifts  were  even  more  munificent  than  those  of 
Hezekiah.  The  latter  had  given  a  thousand  bullocks 
and  ten  thousand  sheep  ;  Josiah  gave  just  three  times  as 
many.  Moreover,  at  Hezekiah's  passover  no  offerings 
of  the  princes  are  mentioned,  but  now  they  added  their 
gifts  to  those  of  the  king.  The  heads  of  the  priesthood 
provided  three  hundred  oxen  and  two  thousand  six 
hundred  small  cattle  for  the  priests,  and  the  chiefs  of 
the  Levites  five  hundred  oxen  and  five  thousand  small 

'   I  Chron.  xxiii.  26,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


xxxiv.-xxxvi.]     THE   LAST  KINGS   OF  JUDAH  459 

cattle  for  the  Levites,  But  numerous  as  were  the 
victims  at  Josiah's  passover,  they  still  fell  far  short  of 
the  great  sacrifice  ^  of  twenty-two  thousand  oxen  and  a 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  sheep  which  Solomon 
offered  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple. 

Then  began  the  actual  work  of  the  sacrifices  :  the 
victims  were  killed  and  flayed,  and  their  blood  was 
sprinkled  on  the  altar ;  the  burnt  offerings  were 
distributed  among  the  people  ;  the  Passover  lambs  were 
roasted,  and  the  other  offerings  boiled,  and  the  Levites 
"  carried  them  quickly  to  all  the  children  of  the  people." 
Apparently  private  individuals  could  not  find  the  means 
of  cooking  the  bountiful  provision  made  for  them ; 
and,  to  meet  the  necessity  of  the  case,  the  Temple 
courts  were  made  kitchen  as  well  as  slaughterhouse 
for  the  assembled  worshippers.  The  other  offerings 
would  not  be  eaten  with  the  Passover  lamb,  but  would 
serve  for  the  remaining  days  of  the  feast. 

The  Levites  not  only  provided  for  the  people,  for 
themselves,  and  the  priests,  but  the  Levites  who 
ministered  in  the  matter  of  the  sacrifices  also  prepared 
for  their  brethren  who  were  singers  and  porters,  so  that 
the  latter  were  enabled  to  attend  undisturbed  to  their 
own  special  duties  ;  all  the  members  of  the  guild  of 
porters  were  at  the  gates  maintaining  order  among  the 
crowd  of  worshippers  ;  and  the  full  strength  of  the 
orchestra  and  choir  contributed  to  the  beauty  and 
solemnity  of  the  services.  It  was  the  greatest  Passover 
held  by  any  Israelite  king. 

Josiah's  passover,  like  that  of  Hezekiah,  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  formidable  foreign  invasion  ;   but  whereas 


'  2  Chron.  vii.  5.     The  figures  are'peculiar  to  Chronicles ;  i  Kings 
viii.  5  says  that  the  victims  could  not  be  counted. 


46o  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

Hezekiah  was  rewarded  for  renewed  loyalty  by  a 
triumphant  deliverance,  Josiah  was  defeated  and  slain. 
These  facts  subject  the  chronicler's  theory  of  retribu- 
tion to  a  severe  strain.  His  perplexity  finds  pathetic 
expression  in  the  opening  words  of  the  new  section, 
"After  all  this,"  after  all  the  idols  had  been  put 
away,  after  the  celebration  of  the  most  magnificent 
Passover  the  monarchy  had  ever  seen.  After  all  this, 
when  we  looked  for  the  promised  rewards  of  piety — for 
fertile  seasons,  peace  and  prosperity  at  home,  victory 
and  dominion  abroad,  tribute  from  subject  peoples,  and 
wealth  from  successful  commerce — after  all  this,  the 
rout  of  the  armies  of  Jehovah  at  Megiddo,  the  flight 
and  death  of  the  wounded  king,  the  lamentation  over 
Josiah,  the  exaltation  of  a  nominee  of  Pharaoh  to  the 
throne,  and  the  payment  of  tribute  to  the  Egyptian  king. 
The  chronicler  has  no  complete  explanation  of  this 
painful  mystery,  but  he  does  what  he  can  to  meet  the 
difficulties  of  the  case.  Like  the  great  prophets  in 
similar  instances,  he  regards  the  heathen  king  as  charged 
with  a  Divine  commission.  Pharaoh's  appeal  to  Josiah 
to  remain  neutral  should  have  been  received  by  the 
Jewish  king  as  an  authoritative  message  from  Jehovah. 
It  was  the  failure  to  discern  in  a  heathen  king  the 
mouthpiece  and  prophet  of  Jehovah  that  cost  Josiah 
his  life  and  Judah  its  liberty. 

The  chronicler  had  no  motive  for  lingering  over  the  last 
sad  days  of  the  monarchy ;  the  rest  of  his  narrative  is 
almost  entirely  abridged  from  the  book  of  Kings.  Jeho- 
ahaz,  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin,  and  Zedekiah  pass  over  the 
scene  in  rapid  and  melancholy  succession.  In  the  case 
of  Jehoahaz,  who  only  reigned  three  months,  the  chroni- 
cler omits  the  unfavourable  judgment  recorded  in  the 
book  of  Kings ;  but  he  repeats  it  for  the  other  three. 


xxxiv.-xxxvi.]     THE  LAST  KINGS  OF  JUDAH  461 

even  for  the  poor  lad  of  eight  ^  who  was  carried  away 
captive  after  a  reign  of  three  months  and  ten  days.  The 
chronicler  had  not  learnt  that  kings  can  do  no  wrong  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  ungodly  policy  of  Jehoiachin's 
ministers  is  labelled  with  the  name  of  the  boy-sovereign. 
Each  of  these  kings  in  turn  was  deposed  and  carried 
away  into  captivity,  unless  indeed  Jehoiakim  is  an 
exception.  In  the  book  of  Kings  we  are  told  that  he 
slept  with  his  fathers,  i.e.,  that  he  died  and  was  buried 
in  the  royal  tombs  at  Jerusalem,  a  statement  which 
the  LXX.  inserts  here  also,  specifying,  however,  that 
he  was  buried  in  the  garden  of  Uzza.  If  the  pious 
Josiah  were  punished  for  a  single  error  by  defeat  and 
death,  why  was  the  wicked  Jehoiakim  allowed  to  reign 
till  the  end  of  his  life  and  then  die  in  his  bed  ?  The 
chronicler's  information  differed  from  that  of  the 
earlier  narrative  in  a  way  that  removed,  or  at  any  rate 
suppressed  the  difficulty.  He  omits  the  statement  that 
Jehoiakim  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  tells  us  ^  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  bound  him  in  fetters  to  carry  him  to 
Babylon.  Casual  readers  would  naturally  suppose 
that  this  purpose  was  carried  out,  and  that  the  Divine 
justice  was  satisfied  by  Jehoiakim's  death  in  captivity ; 
and  yet  if  they  compared  this  passage  with  that  in 
the  book  of  Kings,  it  might  occur  to  them  that  after 
the  king  had  been  put  in  chains  something  might  have 
led  Nebuchadnezzar  to  change  his  mind,  or,  like 
Manasseh,  Jehoiakim  might  have  repented  and  been 
allowed  to  return.  But  it  is  very  doubtful  whether 
the  chronicler's  authorities  contemplated  the  possibility 
of  such  an  interpretation ;  it  is  scarcely  fair  to  credit 

'  Jehoiachin.     The  ordinary  reading  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  8  makes  him 
eighteen. 

xxxvi.  6  b,  peculiar  to  Chronicles. 


462  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

them  with  all  the  subtle  devices  of  modern  com- 
mentators. 

The  real  conclusion  of  the  chronicler's  history  of  the 
kings  of  the  house  of  David  is  a  summary  of  the  sins 
of  the  last  days  of  the  monarchy  and  of  the  history  of 
its  final  ruin  in  xxxvi.  14-20.^  All  the  chief  of  the  priests 
and  of  the  people  were  given  over  to  the  abominations 
of  idolatry ;  and  in  spite  of  constant  and  urgent  admoni- 
tions from  the  prophets  of  Jehovah,  they  hardened 
their  hearts,  and  mocked  the  messengers  of  God,  and 
despised  His  words,  and  misused  His  prophets,  until 
the  wrath  of  Jehovah  arose  against  His  people,  and 
there  was  no  healing. 

However,  to  this  peroration  a  note  is  added  that  the 
length  of  the  Captivity  was  fixed  at  seventy  years,  in 
order  that  the  land  might  "  enjoy  her  sabbaths."  This 
note  rests  upon  Lev.  xxv.  1-7,  according  to  which 
the  land  was  to  be  left  fallow  every  seventh  year.  The 
seventy  years'  captivity  would  compensate  for  seventy 
periods  of  six  years  each  during  which  no  sabbatical 
years  had  been  observed.  Thus  the  Captivity,  with  the 
four  hundred  and  twenty  previous  years  of  neglect, 
would  be  equivalent  to  seventy  sabbatical  periods. 
There  is  no  economy  in  keeping  back  what  is  due  to 
God. 

Moreover,  the  editor  who  separated  Chronicles  from 
the  book  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  was  loath  to  allow  the 
first  part  of  the  history  to  end  in  a  gloomy  record  of 
sin  and  ruin.  Modern  Jews,  in  reading  the  last  chapter 
of  Isaiah,  rather  than  conclude  with  the  ill-omened 
words  of  the  last  two  verses,  repeat  a  previous  portion 
of  the  chapter.     So  here  to  the  history  of  the  ruin  of 

'  Mostly  peculiar  to  Chronicles, 


xxxiv.-xxxvi.]     THE  LAST  KINGS   OF  JUDAH  463 

Jerusalem  the  editor  has  appended  two  verses  from  the 
opening  of  the  book  of  Ezra,  which  contain  the  decree 
of  Cyrus  authorising  the  return  from  the  Captivity. 
And  thus  Chronicles  concludes  in  the  middle  of  a 
sentence  which  is  completed  in  the  book  of  Ezra : 
"  Who  is  there  among  you  of  all  his  people  ?  Jehovah 
his  God  be  with  him,  and  let  him  go  up.  .  .   ." 

Such  a  conclusion  suggests  two  considerations  which 
will  form  a  fitting  close  to  our  exposition.  Chronicles 
is  not  a  finished  work ;  it  has  no  formal  end  ;  it  rather 
breaks  off  abruptly  like  an  interrupted  diary.  In  like 
manner  the  book  of  Kings  concludes  with  a  note  as  to 
the  treatment  of  the  captive  Jehoiachin  at  Babylon  :  the 
last  verse  runs,  "And  for  his  allowance  there  was  a 
continual  allowance  given  him  of  the  king,  every  day  a 
portion,  all  the  days  of  his  life."  The  book  of  Nehemiah 
has  a  short  final  prayer :  "  Remember  me,  O  my  God, 
for  good " ;  but  the  preceding  paragraph  is  simply 
occupied  with  the  arrangements  for  the  wood  offering 
and  the  first-fruits.  So  in  the  New  Testament  the 
history  of  the  Church  breaks  off  with  the  statement  that 
St.  Paul  abode  two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired  house, 
preaching  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  sacred  writers 
recognise  the  continuity  of  God's  dealings  with  His 
people ;  they  do  not  suggest  that  one  period  can  be 
marked  off  by  a  clear  dividing  line  or  interval  from 
another.  Each  historian  leaves,  as  it  were,  the  loose 
ends  of  his  work  ready  to  be  taken  up  and  continued 
by  his  successors.  The  Holy  Spirit  seeks  to  stimulate 
the  Church  to  a  forward  outlook,  that  it  may  expect  and 
work  for  a  future  wherein  the  power  and  grace  of  God 
will  be  no  less  manifest  than  in  the  past.  Moreover, 
the  final  editor  of  Chronicles  has  shown  himself  un- 
willing that  the  book  should  conclude  with  a  gloomy 


464  THE  BOOKS   OF  CHRONICLES 

record  of  sin  and  ruin,  and  has  appended  a  few  lines  to 
remind  his  readers  of  the  nev\j  life  of  faith  and  hope 
that  lay  beyond  the  Captivity.  In  so  doing,  he  has 
echoed  the  key-note  of  prophecy:  ever  be3^ond  man's 
transgression  and  punishment  the  prophets  saw  the 
vision  of  his  forgiveness  and  restoration  to  God. 


Date  Due 

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The  books  of  Chronicles. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00057  2612 


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